For some reason, it seems like Verizon has chosen to withhold Samsung Pay from the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge on their network temporarily. There's no official word as to why Verizon would force Samsung to remove the feature from their phones specifically, but some speculation suggests it has something to do with Samsung being unwilling to share any Samsung Pay revenue with Verizon.
Despite that, it will eventually be available indirectly. Samsung is set to debut the Samsung Pay app on the Play Store and their own Galaxy Apps landing pages on March 11th. It will become available to download and use on Verizon Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge units at that time. Here's a quote with more of the details,
"We've spoken with Samsung, and they have clarified that while Samsung Pay currently cannot be installed via the Play Store or Galaxy Apps on the Verizon model, it will be available to Verizon Galaxy S7s and S7 edges via those channels starting on March 11th, the official launch date for the phones. Samsung Pay is not pre-loaded on Verizon models, unlike some other US carriers, and Verizon does not advertise the app - and even went so far as to strip it from the user manuals of its versions of the S7 and S7 edge - but sideloading will not be necessary by the time we reach the retail launch date for the devices." ~ AndroidPolice
Still, practically every other carrier who sells the Galaxy S7 series phones has already preloaded Samsung Pay on the device. If the reasons shared above for Verizon putting the strangle-hold on Samsung Pay are accurate it would... probably not be too surprising. Big Red is notorious for being persnickety with programs and features that they can't directly benefit from, or that might include any competition with their own products and services.
Of course, there's almost always two sides to every story. Here's a quote from a different source suggesting that there is more to the issue than meets the eye,
"Verizon Wireless spokesman Albert Aydin reiterated to Android Central that Samsung Pay absolutely is not being blocked.
"Samsung Pay is supported on the Verizon S7 models," Aydin said in an email. "It's accurate that it's not a preload but we have not blocked or prevented the app from working on the device. Once it's available for download, customers can add or remove it whenever they'd like."
What do you folks think? Is Verizon being Verizon, or is this a simple case of exaggeration?
