The company is quick to mention that these rewards come in addition to whatever your cards offer, not in place of them. Also, since many debit cards don't have points programs, this provides bonuses that you won't get if you're normally averse to using credit. Samsung Rewards should be available this week, and it should expand to include everything from Samsung's website through to S Health. Anyone who signs up before the end of 2016 will receive double the usual points, too.

It's a clever strategy, and it might be a necessary one. As rapidly as Samsung Pay has grown since it launched, it's still relatively small next to Apple Pay -- the iPhone-centric service had the luxuries of both a year-long head start and Apple's home turf advantage in brand recognition. This would not only give fence-sitting Galaxy owners a better reason to try Samsung Pay, but existing users a reason to stick with it and leave their physical cards in their wallets.