How to Disable Samsung Pay - A Step-by-Step Guide

The consumerist society that we live in has its ups and downs. Sure, everything is at your fingertips, ready to use, nearly effortless, and hassle-free. But consider this: with all your cards neatly arranged and displayed on the virtual shelf of your Samsung Pay app, you’ll be even more tempted to splurge on things that you’ll likely never use. Don’t ask how we know. 

It’s not just about stoking your inner consumerism, either: the app’s notifications will keep popping up and luring you into the world of shiny pricey bells and whistles that you don’t actually need. So, how do we get out? How to Disable Samsung Pay before it is too late? Read on to find out. 

Samsung Pay: A Virtual Wallet

If you’ve ever had wallets filled to the brim with credit cards only to spend an eternity at checkout trying to find the one card you need, the thought of adopting a more practical, contactless payment method probably sounded very appealing. If you are also a Samsung user, that’s likely where Samsung Pay stepped in. 

Even if you didn’t want it, the service came preinstalled on many Samsung phones, and to uninstall Samsung Pay on older devices, you’d have to jump through quite a few hoops. However, most of the users were thrilled with the opportunity to have virtual money on the go and pay with their mobile phone or Samsung Watch, so they didn’t even want it to be removed. Samsung Pay offers a rewards program and speedy transactions. It can even be used as a bank, now that the South Korean tech giant has paired up with SoFi. 

Why Would You Remove Samsung Pay?

Reading this text so far, you may be wondering, why would anyone even consider removing Samsung Pay in the first place? Well, as always, things are not as good as they may seem at first. Initially, safety and privacy issues required users to install some of the best antivirus software around just to fight hackers. A popular attack method was using remotely generated tokens to exploit a vulnerability in the system and access the user’s funds. Even once Samsung fixed that problem, constant pop-ups and annoying reminders made many wish to turn off Samsung Pay for good. 

Another problem is that you’ll have to install Samsung Pay Framework just to make the app work, which causes battery drain issues. On top of that, a somewhat intrusive screen-swipe button makes users swipe it accidentally too often to be ignored. 

Here comes the tricky part: when you try to turn off Samsung Pay, your phone may flat-out refuse to cooperate. Some people then decide to completely remove it from their phones or watches and install a different contactless pay app such as Google Pay. So, how to disable Samsung Pay from a Samsung phone?  If Samsung Pay keeps popping up despite your best efforts, or you just want to give yourself a breather for a while, read on.

First Aid: Remove Samsung Pay From the Home Screen

Let’s not go with the worst-case scenario right away. Suppose you just want Samsung Pay to simply stop constantly popping up as it’s doing its own thing. There's a useful setting to help you with that, especially if you’re a proud owner of one of those retro phones with removable batteries that had the app preinstalled and set up for maximum notification spam by default. 

So, how to disable the Samsung Pay notification spam? It’s a breeze: slide up the app and locate the three lines icon at the bottom of the screen. Hit Settings and tap “Use Favorite Cards” on the menu. This tab regulates where and when the cards pop up on the screen. Toggle off the options for the lock screen, home screen, and screen off notifications. 

With these options switched off, Samsung Pay should only activate when you need it: once you slide it up and tap it to a terminal to pay for that forty-fourth pair of shoes you’ve always wanted. 

Last Resort: How To Disable Samsung Pay Permanently?

Should you need to completely uninstall the app from your phone (whether to try another app or get rid of virtual wallets and switch to more traditional methods), we’ve got you covered, too.

If you have a newer version of the app, uninstalling it is a breeze: simply swipe up to access the app drawer, find, press, and hold the Samsung Pay icon until you get to see the menu. Tap Uninstall and confirm the action by hitting OK. Et voila, you’re done!

What if You Have a Preinstalled App?

Here at KommandoTech, we often get asked how to disable Samsung Pay on Galaxy S6 and other popular Samsung phones. The problem with older Galaxy devices is that they come with the app preinstalled. In that case, you’ll need to root the phone to disable Samsung Pay permanently, and a root failure might cause your phone to become “bricked,” voiding your warranty.

A better option is to try installing the Titanium Backup app from the Google Play store. Once you’re up and running, tap Samsung Pay from the drop-down menu, hit “Uninstall,” and wait for a few minutes for the app to finish running. Should you ever wish to use Samsung Pay again, you’ll simply have to download it from the Play Store.

So, this is how to remove Samsung Pay for good. If you simply wish to prevent the app from running in the background, choose the “Freeze” button instead. The app won’t use up system resources, and your phone won’t be slowed down as a result. Once you decide to have it back again, simply tap “Unfreeze” to get the app’s full functionality back. We believe that completely uninstalling Samsung Pay is a good choice for kids’ phones, so you don’t have to worry about your kids figuring out your credit card details and using the app to buy who-knows-what without your knowledge.

How To Disable Samsung Pay on the Watch?

First off, if you’re a proud owner of a Samsung Gear S device, we congratulate you. It’s a fantastic all-in-one watch that can act as an e-wallet, too. But if it’s too tempting to ignore using, you’ll want to uninstall Samsung Pay and start saving money. As this app used to be baked in the OS, it couldn’t be uninstalled or disabled but only hidden. 

However, with the newest update, you’ll be able to get rid of it popping up every now and then. So, how to disable Samsung Pay permanently? Simply open the Galaxy Wearable app, go to the Home tab, hit Apps, and tap Manage apps from the menu. By pressing the trashcan icon, you’ll delete the app, but to finish the job, you’ll need to access it once again and tap Uninstall.