Ahead of Mobile World Congress, Samsung has announced that its mobile payment service Samsung Pay has more than 5 million “registered users”, with many of them coming from South Korea and the United States. In the first six months since its release, the service has processed over $ 500 million dollars.

“Since its introduction last year, Samsung Pay has changed the way people pay and use their smartphones,” said Samsung’s head of research and development, software and services, and EVP of mobile communications business InJon Rhee in a statement. “We’ve already seen significant consumer adoption and we continue to see great momentum. Our aim is to expand Samsung Pay to even more locations around the world, and our customers should expect to see more features in the year to come.”

Already in the works are plans to bring Samsung Pay to more markets, including China this March, a market that Apple recently entered, followed by Australia, Brazil, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Canada is also planned but there’s no specific timeframe.

The company also revealed that it’s still working on forming an extensive partnership ecosystem, growing on the 70 major and regional banks. It has partnered with credit card providers BC Card, Hana Card, KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card, NH Nonghyup Card, and Samsung Card in South Korea to provide an online payment service in the country. In doing so, consumers can leverage the Samsung Pay Fingerprint Authentication to pay for goods and services online.

Other developments include the eventual support for American Express, China UnionPay, MasterCard, and Visa, which will make it more accessible to millions of people around the world. Samsung Pay will also be targeting more than credit and debit cards, the company said. Eventually, users can add transit passes, coupons, and membership cards.

Samsung Pay launched as an alternative payment service to take on Apple Pay in the mobile space, but it’s in an increasingly crowded market, including Android Pay, and even LG’s effort with GPay. Rhee said at the time: “If consumers always have to guess whether a store accepts a mobile payment it creates a mental friction. I believe in creating a basic technology that removes that friction.”

The service operates similar to Apple Pay, allowing you to easily make payments at retail stores directly from your phone. Just swipe up on the screen, designate a card you want to use, place your finger on the scanner or enter a pin number, and that’s it. It utilizes near field communication (NFC) and LoopPay’s magnetic secure transmission technology. Those with the Samsung Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and S6 edge plus are able to use it.

Adoption numbers for Samsung Pay’s competitors haven’t been released publicly, although during his Money20/20 keynote in 2015, Google’s senior vice president of ads and commerce Sridhar Ramaswamy told attendees that “we’ve seen millions of users set up Android Pay and the majority — over 60% — are brand new, not just Google Wallet users.” And while Apple doesn’t disclose metrics around its mobile payment service, it’s estimated that 3.6 million people have used Apple Pay at least once.

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