The news: Samsung may launch a credit card in the US, per SammyGuru.

• The tech behemoth filed for a trademark last month for the name “Samsung Galaxy Card.” 
• Samsung reportedly is in negotiations with Barclays to launch the card product.

What this means: Samsung may be trying to fight for more wallet share stateside. 

Apple and Google trounce Samsung in mobile proximity payment users, per our forecast, by a wide margin: In 2026, Apple Pay and Google Pay will have 71.6 million and 42 million users, respectively, versus Samsung Pay’s 15 million. With valuable rewards tied to the wallet, Samsung could potentially coax some of the 129.9 million Android users—the second-largest smartphone group—to default to its card when tapping from their Samsung devices.

For Barclays, this pick-up could give the British bank a much needed win after a string of losses:

• The issuer faced co-brand flops with American Airlines, Choice Hotels, and Lufthansa.
• And it lost out on the Apple Card to JPMorgan Chase when Goldman Sachs departed from consumer finance.

This also means that Apple may have a rival card launch around the Apple Card’s transition timeline. However, it’s unlikely to make much of a dent: The Apple Card already has 12 million cardholders and the benefit of the dominant iOS and wallet stateside.

Implications for mobile wallets: Payment providers trying to boost user enrollment in their digital wallets need to provide competitive incentives to get new users to sign up or defect from their wallet of choice. 

The Apple Card offers 2% back on any purchase made through Apple Pay, setting the bar fairly high for a challenger to dethrone it.