This small but essential detail to consider when buying a Samsung smartphone

When buying a smartphone, new or used, there are many things to be wary of. But in the case of Samsung, the task becomes even more daunting.

In these times of borderless e-commerce, it’s tempting to buy a smartphone overseas, lured by a lower price or faster availability. But this practice is far from without consequences. The website Teltarif.de recently conducted a survey to understand why Samsung Wallet/Pay, Samsung’s mobile payment system, does not work on all of the brand’s phones. The verdict is clear: it is better to avoid imported Samsung smartphones.

Samsung Wallet (formerly Samsung Pay)

Download Samsung Wallet (ex-Samsung Pay) for free

APK

The worst part of all this, you can be fooled even by buying in France. For what ? In the race for the best prices and bargains, resellers, whether independent retailers or e-commerce giants, have developed global sourcing strategies. In fact, you can buy a Samsung smartphone in France, but that does not necessarily mean that it was originally intended for the French market.

Additionally, some marketplace sellers may not be fully transparent about the origin of the devices they are selling. Indeed, it can be difficult to determine if the proposed smartphone is really intended for the French market. Sometimes the devices can come from neighboring countries like Italy, but sometimes also from much further away, like Asia.

This can be particularly confusing for the buyer who, although aware of the potential problem with imported smartphones, thinks they are buying a product intended for the French market because they buy it in France.

But, what’s the problem?

Beyond 4G and 5G frequency band compatibility issues or customer service support, this is all about device functionality. Specifically, payment functionality.

On imported Samsung smartphones, the Samsung Pay service crashes, showing errors such as “Cannot open Samsung Wallet” or “ Unable to use Samsung Pay – Samsung Pay is not supported on your phone “. Worse still, Google Pay, the direct competitor, works smoothly. Resetting the device doesn’t change that.

The source of the problem : Samsung CCS code

All Samsung smartphones are associated with a CSC code, which means ” Country Specific Code”, or ” Country Code Software “. This is a set of three letters that indicate the region and networks the device was designed for. The main devices sold in France generally carry the Bouygues CSC code (BOG), Orange (MTF) and SFR (SFR). For France as a whole, it is the code ” XEF “. Below you will find the list of CSC codes and the associated countries.

How to know your CSC code?

There are two main methods to determine the CSC code of your Samsung smartphone.

The telephone dialer method

1. Open your Samsung smartphone’s dialer app.
2. Type the following code: *#1234#
3. A black screen appears, displaying various information including the CSC code of your device.

The “About device” method:

1. Open your smartphone’s Settings app.
2. Scroll down to “About device” and select this option.
3. Then press “Software Info” ».
4. Look for the section ” Service Provider SW Ver » Or “Carrier software version”. There you will find the CSC code of your smartphone.

However, it should be noted that the CSC code indicated by the first method can sometimes be a universal code (for example OXM), which does not reflect the true region of the device. In this case, the second method is preferred.

It is also possible to manually change the CSC code of your Samsung smartphone, but this operation, which requires a root of the device, is not recommended due to the risks involved.

Geographical areas of the various existing CSCs