Credit card companies, banks, retail stores and e-merchants are lining up to accept Apple Pay.
Now, Apple’s chief competition in the smartphone arena may be on the verge of its own mobile payment system.
Samsung has reportedly been talking with the startup company LoopPay to develop a rival to Apple Pay. If this were to happen, Samsung would likely introduce the system in the coming year, according to a Re/Code report.
That same report suggests the relationship between Samsung and LoopPay is unknown. It cites two sources and one says the companies’ deal could still fall apart. Another source claims that a prototype is already in place.
If LoopPay and Samsung could reach an agreement, the Samsung payment platform would employ the use of fingerprint technology – just like Apple Pay – to complete transactions.
And just like Apple Pay, Samsung’s mobile payment platform would use a user’s credit cards and other payment formats that are loaded into the system. When a user patronizes a business that accepts the payment format, all they need do is swipe their smartphone and verify it with a fingerprint.
The only other similar big-name mobile payment solution that exists now is PayPal. With a mobile app at participating stores, PayPal users can make purchases from their accounts and smartphones.
Samsung did introduce its own Samsung Wallet earlier this year, according to an entry at Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog. That app allows its smartphone users to store credit and debit card information into a single location to make the checkout and payment process simpler, not to make actual payments.
Re/Code suggests that LoopPay could greatly benefit from attaching its name to Samsung’s star. The startup is struggling with name recognition.
And that’s certainly something Samsung can provide. Based on the latest comScore market share ratingsfor October, Samsung is actually gaining on Apple in overall smartphone use.
While Apple remains top overall, second-place Samsung is gaining, picking up nearly a full percent more users over last October.
Together, the companies account for more than 71 percent of all smartphones in use.
Samsung Photo via Shutterstock
