[THE INVESTOR] Samsung Electronics on March 23 said it released Samsung Pay in Italy, marking the 21st country to release the mobile payment system on smart devices.

The Korean tech giant first kicked off the service in August 2015 and gradually expanded the scope to cover the United States, China, Spain, Australia, Brazil and Russia.

In January, the service was also made available in Mexico.

The service can be used through high-end smartphones or smartwatches made by Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Pay is significant as it works on traditional credit card machines based on the magnetic secure transmission technology. It also supports near field communication technology that requires a separate transaction device.

“We strive to deliver the best experiences to our customers,” Samsung said. “The rapid growth of Samsung Pay has been made possible by Samsung’s commitment to an open model of collaboration around the world, resulting in over 1,700 partnerships, including payment providers Visa and Mastercard.”

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)