With consumers becoming more comfortable using mobile payment platforms for everyday purchases, MasterCard recently invited New York residents to buy items from a specific café with Samsung Pay in exchange for tickets to a Cold War Kids, Capital Cities or Years & Years concert.

The financial brand attempted to boost awareness and usage of Samsung Pay this past weekend by incentivizing diners eating at the café at 837 Washington St., New York, to purchase their snacks and beverages with the mobile payment platform for a chance to receive concert tickets. Consumers who bought café items with Samsung Pay on Saturday received their pick of one pair of tickets to a 2016 Samsung Live @ 837 Concert, featuring popular bands Capital Cities, Cold War Kids and Years & Years.

“837 NYC offers a friendly venue for Samsung Pay and tying first-time use, or repeat use, to a giveaway is a common theme these days to drive both adoption and familiarity,” said Jon Squire, CEO and founder of CardFree.

“Anytime you are trying to gain momentum for what is still a fairly nascent technology, leveraging a daily behavior (coffee) and a promotion (concert tickets) will inevitably grab the attention – and hopefully adoption – of consumers who have waited to partake in mobile payments.”

Spotlight on Samsung Pay
MasterCard highlighted some of the benefits stemming from Samsung Pay usage by rolling out a limited-time promotion this past weekend. The financial marketer sponsored ads on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to alert consumers of the opportunity to win exclusive concert tickets simply by visiting a designated café and buying a snack with Samsung Pay.

The first 120 customers who visited the café located at 837 Washington St. in New York between the hours of 11 a.m. and 8 p.m. on Saturday were encouraged to download the Samsung Pay application for their smartphones and register an eligible MasterCard with the app. After purchasing an item at the eatery via Samsung Pay, they were rewarded with one pair of tickets to a 2016 Samsung Live @ 837 Concert.

Forty pairs of tickets each were available for the Cold War Kids, Capital Cities and Years & Years concerts, taking place on July 14, July 21 and July 28, respectively.

Purchases made via a credit card other than MasterCard were not eligible for the ticket offer.

Each of the bands involved in the promotion also took to social media to advertise the limited-time deal. For example, indie pop duo Capital Cities rolled out a call-to-action to their Twitter and Facebook followers, informing fans of their upcoming concert in New York and inviting them to score tickets by using Samsung Pay at the 837 NYC Café.

Swiping in cross-partnerships
MasterCard’s collaboration with Samsung Pay likely resulted in a greater number of individuals taking advantage of the promotion, especially considering the former’s significant customer base.

By posting calls-to-action and sponsored ads on social media, MasterCard was able to propel Samsung Pay to the forefront of mobile users’ minds.

According to a report from Mercator Advisory Group, merchants are having a bigger impact on shoppers’ payments behaviors and encouraging the transition to mobile compared to universal wallets such as Apple Pay (see story).

Although Samsung Pay has not yet seen the widespread consumer adoption that its iOS payments counterpart has, the service is still picking up steam and remains a contender in the heavily populated mobile commerce sector.

Apple Pay and Samsung Pay are driving close to 70 percent of new customers making contactless payments via their mobile phones and near field communications technology, according to a new report from Juniper Research (see story).

“It’s common practice these days to see both card companies and direct brands offer something of value to convert consumers to a new shopping experience,” Mr. Squire said.

“Chick-fil-A did it with a chicken sandwich giveaway, Visa and MasterCard have been doing this for a couple of years if the consumer choices their card as the default reload/load mechanism, and we will likely see no shortage of incentives until we have a clear winner in the wallet wars.”