This rumored Samsung Galaxy S26 upgrade will finally make contactless payments as easy as they are on the iPhone

• The Galaxy S26 is rumored to be getting an NFC upgrade
• This would make mobile payments more straightforward
• We should see the Galaxy S26 phones sometime in January 2026

We're likely some five months away from the launch of the Galaxy S26 series, if Samsung sticks to its usual schedule in 2026, and the latest leak around these devices concerns a useful-sounding upgrade to contactless payments.

According to South Korean outlet ETNews (via SamMobile), Samsung is going to improve the Near Field Communication (NFC) tech in its next flagships – the protocol that powers in-person payments on all modern-day smartphones.

Samsung is planning to add a new NFC antenna right at the top of the phone, the report suggests, to go with the one next to the rear camera. That should mean that when you tap to pay, there's much less of a chance of missing the mark.

It would also put the Galaxy series on a par with recent iPhones, including the iPhone 16. Apple's handsets already have this kind of setup in place, and indeed Apple owns several patents for the tech, which Samsung has only just been able to work around.

No connection worries

This may seem like a rather minor upgrade compared to components like chipsets, batteries, and cameras, but with contactless payments becoming more popular across the world it's certainly going to be a welcome improvement.

Mobile payments on current Samsung phones work fine, most of the time, but the positioning of the single NFC antenna can mean a connection sometimes isn't registered – which should no longer be the case with the Galaxy S26.

Of course this isn't official yet, until Samsung announces it. Other upgrades we've heard rumored for the Galaxy S26 series include boosts to charging speeds and camera quality, while the Edge model might fully replace the Plus model next year.

Samsung recently unveiled its latest flagship foldable handsets, and these may point towards stylings and features for the Galaxy S26 – check out our Galaxy Z Fold 7 review and Galaxy Z Flip 7 review for more details of those phones.

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