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Samsung Acquires Apple Pay Rival LoopPay
Samsung today announced plans to purchase LoopPay, in an effort to compete with Apple's Apple Pay payments service. The two companies were in previously talks over a potential partnership in December for a payment system that would rival Apple Pay.
LoopPay's technology stores payment information from a credit or debit card's magnetic stripe, transmitting payment details to card readers in lieu of a physical card. Because it works over a magnetic field, LoopPay is compatible with 90 percent of existing card readers and does not require merchants to support NFC as Apple Pay does.
Currently, LoopPay works through an app and a standalone hardware device (a case is one of the company's most popular LoopPay offerings), but Samsung may build the technology directly into phones in the future. With LoopPay's technology, upcoming Samsung devices may be able to replace credit cards much in the same way Apple Pay does, with Samsung customers able to wave their phones at payment terminals instead of swiping a card.
According to Samsung, LoopPay will provide the company's customers with a "seamless, safe, and reliable" mobile wallet solution. LoopPay already markets itself as an alternative to Apple Pay, and it's likely Samsung will build upon the technology to create a payment service that even more closely mirrors Apple's offering.
LoopPay's technology stores payment information from a credit or debit card's magnetic stripe, transmitting payment details to card readers in lieu of a physical card. Because it works over a magnetic field, LoopPay is compatible with 90 percent of existing card readers and does not require merchants to support NFC as Apple Pay does.
Currently, LoopPay works through an app and a standalone hardware device (a case is one of the company's most popular LoopPay offerings), but Samsung may build the technology directly into phones in the future. With LoopPay's technology, upcoming Samsung devices may be able to replace credit cards much in the same way Apple Pay does, with Samsung customers able to wave their phones at payment terminals instead of swiping a card.
According to Samsung, LoopPay will provide the company's customers with a "seamless, safe, and reliable" mobile wallet solution. LoopPay already markets itself as an alternative to Apple Pay, and it's likely Samsung will build upon the technology to create a payment service that even more closely mirrors Apple's offering.
"This acquisition accelerates our vision to drive and lead innovation in the world of mobile commerce. Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly mobile wallet experience, and we are delighted to welcome LoopPay to take us closer to this goal," said JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics.The current version of LoopPay doesn't have the same security features that Apple Pay offers, like tokenization, but it does have some benefits, including the ability to store IDs, loyalty, and membership cards along with payment cards.
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57 months ago
One month after launch: "LoopPay hacked, exposing millions of users' sensitive information."
57 months ago
Samsung wants to own the next Apple Pay but in reality they'll just have another also-ran like Google Wallet.
57 months ago
Since it uses magnetism doesn't this mean it won't work with chip and pin cards? So, Samsung is so scared of Apple that they bought tech that'll be outdated in a couple years?
57 months ago
This is pretty different. It's essentially the same as using the actual cards. I like Apple Pay's token system a lot better.
57 months ago
Would it kill Samsung (or any of the other android vendors) to come up with an original idea for once?
Why are they always trying to play catch-up?
Why not come up with something new?
Why are they always trying to play catch-up?
Why not come up with something new?
57 months ago
How exactly does this use a magnetic field? Do you swipe your phone?
THere's a funky coil in the add-on case that you place near the read-head of the swipe reader. Clunky but it does have the advantage that it works with almost all swipe readers.
OTOH, that will be of zero advantage come next October when everyone will be using chip cards.
Reminds me of "a day late and a dollar short". But maybe Samsung has new ideas. Maybe.
57 months ago
It's all about the security. ApplePay with tokens seems to be much more secure. I'll stick with that....but retailers need to jump on board...given the number of iPhone users, they will...
57 months ago
Monkey see, monkey do. What else do you expect?
You are referring to Apple adding payment capabilities to the iPhone?
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