Mobile tap and pay on London tube.

To buy the card or to check on and off of the train???

I am not talking about using a contact less card. I am talking about using Samsung Pay. This is an app on my mobile phone which you then use your phone just like a contact less card.

According to their site, TfL only accepts Google (formerly Android) Pay, Apple Pay, and Barclay Pay.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/contactless/other-methods-of-contactless-payment

If you look at the box on the right of the page that you linked, just under Barclaycard, they list Samsung Pay. There have been some sites that say there may be a problem if you have a VISA card as your payment on the Samsung Pay. That is why I am asking the question.

It also explains that it might not work if your phone network provider is from outside if the UK. I'm using the mobile site, and Samsung pay is listed in a separate menu from the other three.

Absolutely Samsung Pay is enabled to work on London transport. You won't know if your actual device will work (some foreign ones work and others don't) until you try it. Have the actual card nearby in case you need it. Once you know it works you won't need the backup handy.

Using phone apps like Samsung Pay and Apple Pay work well in general but are a bit slower than using a contactless card or Oyster. Don't do it if there is a queue behind you or risk wrath, and don't tell Emma.

I use my Apple Pay (granted with a UK card linked) exclusively on the Tube now.

Even slower is when it decides the app needs to be open and a fingerprint verification made at the same time.

I've jittered in line at airport departure gates too many times waiting for a smartphone boarding pass in front of me satisfy the scanner. A piece of cardboard used to work better. There is plenty of evidence in this thread to make the Oyster seem like a stress-free gift to the impatient rather than last year's good idea. Technology is not necessarily better just because it's new.

In general, it should. That said, have a backup plan. As Emma and others have said, if the app hangs (or is slow), and its busy, expect some expressed displeasure at you holding up the queue. I am of the 'instant gratification takes too long' mindset and cant be bothered, having experienced my own woes with mobile boarding passes and the like, so I just use an Oyster card when I'm in London.

Sounds like the Oyster Card is the way to go.

Great question and answers! Looks like I’ll stick to my Oyster Card. I finally decided to keep one instead of buying and returning one every trip.

I have been following this thread with great interest. We'll be in London in a few weeks. Oyster card it is!

I recently used a U.S. based bank's contactless credit card (Capital One VISA) the same way as I've used an Oyster card in the past. I registered the card online with an account I set up for my Oyster card with Transport for London. You may be able to register your Samsung Pay account the same way. Maybe that might speed up the process.

The issue with the phone based payment method is that a connection,
via data or wifi, has to be made which delays the transaction.

Not so, the phones make no data transfer when the feature is used. In fact Apple Pay can be used while the phone is in airplane mode. The delay comes from users forgetting that they have to authorize the phone with either their finger print or pin before they get to the gate.