Samsung acquires mobile payment solution LoopPay

Contactless mobile payment solution LoopPay today announced that it has been acquired by Samsung. LoopPay's solution is able to turn existing magnetic stripe readers into contactless payment receivers without requiring sellers to implement new infrastructure. It is expected that Samsung will use LoopPay as the basis of a new Apple Pay competitor.

"This acquisition accelerates our vision to drive and lead innovation in the world of mobile commerce," said JK Shin, Samsung Mobile President. "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."

While Apple Pay relies on NFC, LoopPay makes use of Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology. This technology is the same as used in swipe card readers, meaning that LoopPay is compatible with the vast of card readers, even if they aren't enabled for wireless payments. Because of this, LoopPay claims it has the potential to work at around 90% of United States retail locations.

LoopPay says the process is as easy as placing a handset against reader where one would normally swipe to pay. At present, smartphones require a proprietary case or fob manufactured by LoopPay to support the mobile payment system, but is possible that Samsung could integrate this directly into the upcoming Galaxy S6