• Samsung to Debut its Own Mobile Payments Service in 2015, In Talks with LoopPay

    by
    Akshay Masand
    Published on 2014-12-17 08:36 PM
    6 Comments Comments


    In its recent effort to catch up with Apple’s mobile payment solution, Apple Pay, Samsung is said to have turned to startup company, LoopPay, in an effort to debut its own mobile payments service with large compatibility in 2015. According to Re/code, Samsung’s plans for a contactless payment service would be very familiar to Apple Pay allowing customers to use their Samsung phone to authorize credit card transactions at retail stores. LoopPay is key to the deal as the company has reportedly created a prototype of its system working on a Samsung phone.

    As of right now, LoopPay’s technology is currently used in a fob and a digital payment card that doesn’t require near-field communication technology. Instead LoopPay uses what it calls “magnetic secure transmission,” which allows users to tap a device near a credit card magnetic swipe terminal. As of right now, LoopPay is compatible with a variety of smartphones including Apple’s iPhone. Plugging the company’s fob into an iPhone headphone jack and using the LoopWallet app, users can swipe in their credit and debit cards which then scans them into the system. This fob can be used alone where it compiles transactions with a default card and no security or when paired with a smartphone, users can select the card they wish to use and enter a PIN number to authorize the transaction. LoopPay also offers a smartphone case with detachable fob.

    Although it isn’t clear how well LoopPay’s technology will fare in the coming years, merchants are expected to phase out traditional magnetic swipes in favor of new secure EMV cards which using an authorization process known as chip and signature. Apple Pay and its NFC-based technology won’t be affected by the EMV switch which is set to take place in October of 2015. LoopPay has reportedly been looking into implementing a tokenization system, similar to Apple Pay, to enhance security in future versions of its technology. For those of you who didn’t know, tokenization authorizes a transaction without allowing the merchant to receive the actual payment information.

    We’ll have to see how things turn out but one thing we do know is that Samsung needs to tread carefully as it has earned a “copycat” reputation from several critics over the years when it comes to knocking off features from Apple and this may turn out contributing to the cause.

    Source: Re/code
    This article was originally published in forum thread: Samsung to Debut its Own Mobile Payments Service in 2015, In Talks with LoopPay started by Akshay Masand View original post
    1. Categories:
    2. iPhone,
    3. iOS,
    4. Apple
    Comments 6 Comments
    1. psxcancer's Avatar
      psxcancer - 2014-12-18, 02:00 AM
      That's a great idea ..... Good luck with that.
    1. vitaminme's Avatar
      vitaminme - 2014-12-18, 01:50 PM
      lol
    1. talkin73's Avatar
      talkin73 - 2014-12-18, 04:57 PM
      Isn't android a lot more fragmented than iOS with many users on different OS versions than for iOS? If so that will make implementation a lot more difficult. Also given that android engineers have indicated that it wasn't designed for security (hence the myriad more malware with real impact than iOS and a less secure App Store system) what user is going to feel good about their credit card info being so readily accessible on an android device? I may be misinformed. Regardless of the nuances, I personally wouldn't use a credit card system on any device whose software engineers stated their OS was specifically NOT designed with security in mind.
    1. fleurya's Avatar
      fleurya - 2014-12-18, 07:54 PM
      I know Samsung’s big thing is trying to create their own separate everything to try to make it seem like their Android phone is not like every other Android phone (up to and including holding a dev conference!) but they really just need to learn to enjoy the fruits of Google’s labor.

      In this case, why bother with their own mobile payment system when they can just tap into Google Wallet? We know why Apple had to build their own, because they have their own OS. But Samsung doesn’t. (yes, Tizen, but they’re basically doing nothing with it when it comes to phones/tablets)

      I won’t come out and label this as a “me too” move since ideas/products are always copied left and right, but it just seems sad that Samsung always think they can do it better than what’s already available, and they rarely do it better and usually do it much worse.
    1. fleurya's Avatar
      fleurya - 2014-12-18, 07:59 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by talkin73 View Post
      Isn't android a lot more fragmented than iOS with many users on different OS versions than for iOS? If so that will make implementation a lot more difficult. Also given that android engineers have indicated that it wasn't designed for security
      I've never heard any claims about them abstaining from responsibility of security. Seems like a terrible idea to do so and unlikely. But yes they are highly fragmented. Mostly because Android every level of hardware from total crap to flagship phones and with different versions going back multiple generations. And the likes of Samsung and Amazon don't help matters when they highly customize both the OS and functionality of their Android devices.

      Android started out as a great idea and rival for iPhone, but the way Google let manufacturers just completely run away with hard imlementation and customizations has made "Android" as a singular concept way too messy and confusing. In truth, there is no "Android" outside of Nexus devices. There are only multiple custom mobile software platforms that are the bastard children of the Android concept.
    1. rockyseay's Avatar
      rockyseay - 2014-12-20, 11:13 PM
      Quote Originally Posted by fleurya View Post
      I've never heard any claims about them abstaining from responsibility of security. Seems like a terrible idea to do so and unlikely. But yes they are highly fragmented. Mostly because Android every level of hardware from total crap to flagship phones and with different versions going back multiple generations. And the likes of Samsung and Amazon don't help matters when they highly customize both the OS and functionality of their Android devices.

      Android started out as a great idea and rival for iPhone, but the way Google let manufacturers just completely run away with hard imlementation and customizations has made "Android" as a singular concept way too messy and confusing. In truth, there is no "Android" outside of Nexus devices. There are only multiple custom mobile software platforms that are the bastard children of the Android concept.
      Android doesn't struggle with fragmentation anymore. You're a couple years behind on that. I agree with everything else you said though.

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