Samsung Pay coming to your Verizon Galaxy S7 on March 11

Samsung Pay on Galaxy S7. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

Samsung Pay on Galaxy S7. Photo: Killian Bell/Cult of Android

If you’ve bought a Galaxy S7 or Galaxy S7 edge from Verizon, you may have noticed that it’s missing one big feature: Samsung Pay. Fortunately, this isn’t part of a plan to block the mobile payments service on Verizon handsets, and it will be available later this week.

It’s not totally clear why the Samsung Pay app isn’t pre-installed on Verizon’s Galaxy S7 units; it is pre-installed on almost everyone else’s — even those offered by U.K. carriers where the service isn’t even available yet.

Some assumed this was part of a sneaky plan to block Samsung Pay due to Verizon’s involvement with the Softcard group, which supports rival service Android Pay. This theory was backed up when users noticed a Samsung Pay section was missing from the Galaxy S7 user manuals supplied with Verizon-branded units.

But according to Samsung, that’s not true.

“[Samsung] 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,” reports Android Police.

In the meantime, you can download the Samsung Pay APK and install it on your Verizon device should you want to use it right away.