Samsung in talks with LoopPay to launch its own competitor app to Apple Pay

Samsung is looking at launching its own mobile payment service for future smartphones as a rival to the recently launched Apple Pay which could launch sometime in 2015.

According to an unnamed source via Re/code, Samsung is currently in talks with the startup company LoopPay, to utilise their mobile payments technology in at least one of Samsung’s devices. The source has told Re/code that:

LoopPay’s technology can wirelessly transmit the same information stored on a debit or credit card’s magnetic stripe to a store’s checkout equipment without swiping a card. The company has embedded the technology, which it calls magnetic secure transmission, into a few hardware products it sells directly to consumers: A fob, as well as a LoopPay digital payment card that can be used on its own or while secured in a special LoopPay smartphone case. To complete a purchase, LoopPay users tap any of these devices near the spot on a store’s credit card terminal where a card is usually swiped.

The unnamed sources have said that a prototype of LoopPay’s system has been installed and is currently under trial on one of Samsung’s mobile phones, and is said to be working well. That said, the report has also indicated that the deal between the two companies may not go ahead or may fall apart, though no specifics were given in regards to this part of the statement.

Both LoopPay and Samsung would not comment on this report or the partnership when asked by Re/Code. It will be interesting to see if both companies can reach a partnership to bring mobile payments competition to the market. Though at this stage, we will have to wait and see if the partnership does come to fruition next year sometime when the announcement will be made regarding this mobile payment partnership.