LG Electronics is joining the mobile payments platform wars and is working to create its own payment service to take on similar services, including Apple Pay, Android Pay, Chase Pay and Samsung Pay. The company had mentioned plans for its own mobile payments project in October at a launch event for its new V10 smartphone.
The company will develop the system with the two largest credit card companies in South Korea, Shinhan Card Co. Ltd. and KB Kookmin Card Co. Ltd., according to a Nov. 19 article by Reuters. LG and its partners have signed an agreement to create the new service, which will be called LG Pay, the story said.
No date has been set for when the new mobile payments services will be available. The LG Pay service will be designed to work on all LG smartphones, according to the article. That differs from Samsung Pay, which is only compatible with the latest Samsung phone models.
A story by The Korea Times, however, reported that the LG mobile payments system could launch as early as December.
The LG Pay system will put the company into a growing battle in the mobile payments marketplace.
In October, JP Morgan Chase jumped into the expanding mobile payments marketplace with a planned Chase Pay service that will launch in mid-2016 and take on products from established competitors, such as Apple, Google and Samsung.
The Chase Pay service will allow customers to pay for goods and services in-store, in mobile apps or for online purchases at retailers, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy and Shell, according to an Oct. 26 announcement. The service will be available to some 94 million Chase credit, debit and pre-paid card account holders.
Chase is partnering with Merchant Customer Exchange LLC (MCX), which is building a mobile payments service called CurrentC, according to Chase. Chase Pay will roll out to merchants that accept CurrentC, which will also process Chase Pay transactions. MCX services are available through more than 100,000 retail locations in the United States. Chase is partnering with 17 technology vendors so that other retailers can also offer Chase Pay services to their customers.
Chase Pay will work on most smartphones and will allow consumers to pay for goods and services, even at gas stations and drive-up windows, the company said. The system will use the same technology that many merchants already use to scan gift cards.
The Samsung Pay mobile payment service, which the company launched in the United States on Sept. 28, allows users to pay for purchases using their Samsung smartphones in just about every retail location through its acceptance of multiple payment systems, from near-field communications (NFC) to traditional credit card readers and swiping terminals, according to the company. Samsung Pay also integrates Samsung’s Knox mobile security platform, which uses one-time codes to authenticate purchases rather than transmitting a user’s personal or credit card information. Samsung Pay uses biometric authentication through fingerprint ID and NFC, and can also emulate magnetic-stripe cards for purchases. Samsung Pay only works with that company’s latest smartphones.
Apple Pay, which has been available since October 2014, lets Apple users make purchases and payments using their late-model iPhones, iPads or Apple Watch devices.