LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS SHANGHAI: Samsung Pay VP Haley Kim reaffirmed a commitment to launch the payment service across its entire smartphone footprint, as she boasted the technology’s accessibility holds the edge over fierce rival Apple in the segment.

Following its initial launch in Korea last August, and subsequent roll outs in the US and China, Samsung Pay came to three new markets this month, including Singapore, Australia and Spain, its first in Europe.

The company now aims to bring the service to more countries this year, with the UK, Brazil and Canada confirmed, and Kim said it wants to take the service “to wherever our customers are”.

Kim, speaking at the Digital Commerce Summit at Mobile World Congress Shanghai 2016, added that the company did its homework in eventually launching Samsung Pay, as she trumpeted its “virtually anywhere” capability, which allows consumers to make purchases through both near field communications (NFC) and magnetic secure transmission (MST), following its acquisition of LoopPay.

To further her point, Kim also presented a video that portrayed a customer in a US store being told it did not accept Apple Pay. It then proceeded to show the customer successfully make the payment through a Samsung device, much to the surprise of its staff.

Kim added that many mobile payments solutions in the US have limited acceptance yet Samsung Pay does not.

Kim further described the company’s first six months, which has seen five million registered users and $500 million in transactions, as “phenomenal”.

“Samsung is not a Google or an Apple. We are a consumer electronics company and we did not even have a user base in this space a year ago,” she said. “We are proud of our good start and continue to build our strategy.”