Nougat update rolling out to Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in India; Samsung Pay teased

Samsung is getting ready to bring Samsung Pay to India.

Samsung has started rolling out the Nougat update to the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge in India. The update comes in at 1.2GB, and includes visual tweaks to the user interface, improvements to the always-on display mode, addition of Samsung Pass, and much more.

Along with the update, Samsung started teasing the launch of Samsung Pay in the country. As noted by SamMobile, you'll see a message that reads "The future of payments is coming soon!" once you start using the phone following the Nougat update.

India's demonitisation drive is paving the way for Samsung Pay.

The Indian government's decision to ban high-denomination notes back in November has led to a severe cash crunch in all parts of the country, with demand for new notes far exceeding available supply. As a result, there has been a sharp uptick in the number of digital payments being carried out in the country. Mobile wallet provider Paytm was the standout winner of demonetisation, with the app seeing a meteoric rise in usage following the currency ban.

Samsung could win a huge chunk of the market if it launches its contactless payments solution ahead of Apple or Google. Samsung Pay works with NFC as well as MST, making the service compatible with older POS terminals — negating the need for new hardware. And as Samsung is the leading smartphone manufacturer in the country, there are millions of NFC-enabled devices in the Galaxy A and Galaxy S series that can start using the company's digital payments service once it goes live.

Mobile payment services have failed to take off in India as most consumers were reticent to use digital wallets to pay for goods, but with the government actively working toward a cashless economy in order to curb corruption, the Indian market is primed for the introduction of digital payments.