Mobeam, the unique global leader in mobile barcode beaming, today announced that its technology has been incorporated into Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.’s popular Samsung Pay mobile payment service. Mobeam technology has been used in Samsung Pay for a number of months for the redemption of gift cards that are barcode based. With the latest Samsung Pay update, Mobeam’s beaming technology has been further implemented within Samsung Pay to power the transmission of any barcoded loyalty or membership card at retail POS laser scanners.

Because of long-standing technology barriers, point-of-sale (POS) laser scanners are unable to read barcodes on smartphone screens. Within the Samsung Pay mobile wallet, Mobeam technology enables barcoded gift cards, loyalty cards, and membership cards to be redeemed digitally using Mobeam, which emulates the reading of a barcode by beaming an invisible light into the POS scanner which is read by the scanner as a reflection of the barcode.

“Most retail transactions today incorporate some form of “non-cash” payment or promotion at checkout, or the presentation of shopper credentials, which can include loyalty cards, gift cards or coupons,” said Mobeam CEO George Garrick. “These types of non-cash payments and credentials typically contain barcodes; however, barcodes cannot be read from smartphone screens by retail laser scanners.  Since the laser scanner is the most widely used scanner in grocery stores, drug stores, and mass merchandiser chains, mobile wallet shoppers are otherwise left with a hybrid process that still requires the inconvenient manual use of plastic and paper.”

Mr. Garrick added that retailers and brands benefit from the use of barcode beaming by creating a more convenient shopping experience for their customers, as well as the opportunity for improved targeting of offers, faster and easier checkout and transaction clearing, and enhanced security that reduces opportunities for fraud.  Mobeam technology can be used for virtually all forms of barcoded payment, such as e-gift cards, manufacturer coupons, and retailer offers and loyalty programs.

Garrick continued to say that “Contrary to what a lot of people think, it’s not at all as simple of taking a photo of the barcode with your phone’s camera and then showing that photo to the laser scanner.  Try that.  It simply won’t work.  Mobeam is an extremely sophisticated technology which allows an infra-red LED in the phone to transmit the barcode to the scanner.  The scanner interprets it exactly as if it were scanning the barcode, and to the shopper the motion is the familiar act of presenting the phone’s screen to the scanner”.

Mobeam currently operates with more than 400 million Samsung phones with additional brands of handsets expected to enable beaming in the coming months.