AppleInsider Staff
Just over two months after word first broke that Samsung was considering an Apple Pay competitor, the South Korean conglomerate has reportedly acquired mobile payments startup LoopPay to bolster its efforts.
Samsung began talks with LoopPay in December to integrate the latter's magnetic payment technology into next-generation Galaxy devices. That partnership has apparently turned into an acquisition, and was first reported by Re/code.
"Today is a great day for LoopPay and all those who have supported us over the last few years," LoopPay cofounder Will Graylin wrote in an announcement. "I'm excited to let you know that LoopPay has signed an agreement to be acquired and become a wholly owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics America, Inc."
Acquiring LoopPay would give Samsung a ready-made Apple Pay competitor, albeit one not on equal footing. Apple Pay is based on special behind-the-scenes technology and works directly with credit card payment networks and banks, while LoopPay largely mimics normal credit card swipe functionality.
That could prove a problem for Samsung, as the U.S. is set to follow a number of other nations in eschewing swiped card transactions for EMV technology. The EMV standard depends upon a small chip embedded in the card to authorize transactions, rather than reading data from the magnetic strip.
On the other hand, LoopPay is currently compatible with a far wider array of credit cards and merchants than NFC-based Apple Pay, which requires time-consuming technological integration for participating banks and upgraded payment terminals at merchant locations. That could give Samsung a leg up in adoption as it works to add EMV functionality.
There is no word on the acquisition's financial details or prospective closing date.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
63 Comments
You know, I was hoping they would do this. I don't remember the last time I even swiped a credit card, either in Canada or the US. Samsung is right on time, jumping on a technology which is on the verge of obsolesce because of a case of misguided desperation. This implementation is such a poorly thought out hack. I look forward to this epic failure. I assume it won't even be implemented until the S7 or other future phones, since there's no time to integrate it into the S6. Once again, Samsung takes shortcuts which do nothing to move things forward, but only to gain some temporary advantage and bullet point. Congrats on the Loop pay execs though, no doubt they're quite happy about their payday. This is exactly like the Touch ID situation, where Samsung introduced a much shittier solution 6 months later in their usual LOOK WE HAVE THAT TOO strategy.
Lol. Everyone can copy Apples Pay system. But the system itself is not why apple is successful. They are successful because of the TRUST that Apple has BUILT over the decades.
So, Samsung is now competing with Google Wallet AND Apple Pay, eh? Hmmm...
I think this means Google Wallet has one less Android manufacturer as a supporter. Funny that it just happens to be the largest Android manufacturer.
I think Apple is going to be in an even better position going forward.
Google Wallet? Not so much.
Samsung/LoopPay? Looking forward to seeing the bravado Samsung spews in Barcelona in approximately two weeks.
Sammy will somehow screw it up.
[quote name="9secondko" url="/t/184855/samsung-acquires-looppay-gears-up-to-take-on-apple-pay#post_2678144"]Lol. Everyone can copy Apples Pay system. But the system itself is not why apple is successful. They are successful because of the TRUST that Apple has BUILT over the decades.[/quote] Plus that much maligned originally, 'walled garden'.