Samsung Electronics Service marks the introduction of cashless service centers.
A customer pays with Samsung Pay at a Samsung Electronics service center.
Samsung Electronics Service will begin piloting “cashless service centers” at 16 locations nationwide on the 17th. The unit plans to run payments primarily through credit and debit cards, Samsung Pay and bank transfers to cut settlement work and shorten customer wait times.
Samsung Electronics Service said on the 10th that it will introduce the pilot at 16 centers across the country, including the Yeouido, Dogok and Hangdong Knowledge Industry Center locations in Seoul, as well as sites in Gyeonggi and Incheon, Daejeon, Chungcheongnam Province, Gwangju, Jeollanam Province, Daegu, Gyeongsangbuk Province and Ulsan.
At cashless centers, customers pay for service fees and consumable parts by card, mobile payment or bank transfer instead of cash. Cash accounted for less than 5% of customer payments at service centers this year, and its share has been declining annually.
Samsung Electronics Service expects that wider use of digital payments will simplify cash settlement duties for center staff, allowing them to focus more on serving customers, and will also somewhat reduce waiting times for visitors. The company plans to expand the program to all service centers nationwide after incorporating customer feedback from the pilot.
The company is also expanding electronic receipts to reduce paper use. Under a memorandum of understanding with the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute on the carbon-neutral point program, it issues electronic receipts to the mobile phone number customers provide when requesting service. More than 70% of receipts issued over the past two years were electronic, and customers who sign up for the carbon-neutral point green living program can receive incentives of up to 70,000 won a year for receiving electronic receipts.
The company is cutting resource use in repairs as well. When a smartphone screen breaks, it offers “single-part display repair,” replacing only the faulty component rather than the entire display assembly. The approach is intended to lower repair costs for customers while reducing the discarding of parts that still work.
“We will continue to expand services that enhance both customer convenience and environmental value,” a Samsung Electronics Service official said.