Samsung to launch Apple Pay competitor next year, Apple Pay continues to see growth

Samsung is currently in talks to launch a mobile payment service next year, putting it in direct competition with Apple Pay, according to a report by Business Insider.

Samsung is partnering with mobile wallet and mobile payment solution firm LoopPay to integrate its technology into one of its smartphones next year.

However, the talks between the two companies have not been finalized so there is still a possibility that the partnership could fall through.

If the deal goes through, Samsung could have a slight edge on Apple since LoopPay’s technology is able to wirelessly interface with regular magnetic stripe credit card readers and therefore work in significantly more locations than Apple Pay.

LoopPay currently requires users to insert a special dongle into their phone or use an individual fob, and there is also a specially-designed smartphone case that charges the smartphone and communicates with credit card readers.

One major setback of Apple Pay is that it only works if the merchant has a special near field communication pad that is able to communicate with the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus.

As a result, most merchants do not currently support Apple Pay, however, major retailers like Walgreens, McDonald’s, and Whole Foods are all on board.

Samsung’s Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4 both have PayPal integration that works in concert with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button.

But since PayPal is accepted in even fewer stores than Apple Pay, it would make sense that Samsung would want to partner with a company like LoopPay.

Meanwhile, Apple recently announced details regarding the latest card issuing banks to adopt Apple Pay, with ten new institutions now officially integrated with the service, according to a report by Apple Insider.

The participating banks include Associated Bank, BB&T, Black Hills FCU, Commerce Bank, Dupaco Community Credit Union, Idaho Central Credit Union, First Tennessee Bank, TD Bank North America, WesBanco and UW Credit Union.

Some of these banks — including Commerce Bank, UW CU, Fremont Bank and NIH Federal Credit Union — were previously announced in recent updates to Apple’s rolling list of participating issuers.

Apple also announced that Amway Center, home of the NBA’s Orlando Magic, will initially introduce 60 touchless Apple Pay point-of-sale terminals at concession stands and merchandise stores, and up to 200 terminals when the season starts next year, according to a report by Sports Business Daily.

Though Apple has yet to release the official Apple Pay performance numbers, CEO Tim Cook said in October that the service registered more than one million cards in its first 72 hours of operation.

Another strong indication the service is performing well is that last month, Apple Pay accounted for one percent of all transactions at Whole Foods and half of all touchless transactions at McDonald’s, while Walgreens saw digital wallet transactions double since Apple Pay launched in October.

Article Topics

Apple Pay  |  fingerprint authentication  |  fingerprint sensors  |  Paypal  |  Samsung  |  Touch ID