Samsung Electronics launched its first US co-branded credit card with Barclays on Monday, its deepest move yet into financial services.
The Samsung Galaxy Card is issued by Barclays and runs on Visa’s network. Application, account management, spend tracking and rewards all sit inside Samsung Wallet. The card offers 5% cash back on Samsung purchases and additional rewards on Samsung Pay and other categories.
It puts Samsung head to head with Apple Pay, which dominates US payments.
Doug Villone, head of cards and partnerships at Barclays US Consumer Bank, said the digital card was aimed at creating a more seamless payments experience for customers, who increasingly manage finances through mobile devices rather than physical wallets.
Seventy percent of US households have a Samsung device and nearly 30% of US households own three or more of its products, said Sih Lee, executive vice president, head of North America Fintech Business, Samsung Electronics.
“The relationship that we’re building with Barclays is a strategic and long-term relationship,” Lee said. “So while we don’t have everything all lined up today, we do have intention to collaborate and explore all avenues of different products and different capabilities that we can actually make available as it makes sense to our customers.”
Barclays sees room to widen the deal. “When we do sign relationships, we naturally look at ways we can expand those over time if it makes sense to consumers,” said Villone, adding that the bank has been actively sourcing new partnerships.
This is Barclays’ second big US co-brand in two years. It acquired the General Motors credit card business in 2024, which lets customers earn and redeem reward points on new Buicks, Cadillacs and other GM cars, including electric vehicles.
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Handset makers want the credit relationship and the interchange economics underneath the wallet, not just the wallet. Barclays gets distribution at scale and gives up the customer interface, a trade it has now made twice in two years.