Samsung Electronics Co. announced Wednesday that it had acquired a U.S. mobile payment start-up LoopPay, as a clear signal that the tech giant intends to compete aggressively with Apple Inc. in trying to change consumer behavior at the checkout counter, says The Wall Street Journal.
For Samsung, the LoopPay acquisition marks a move into building up an ecosystem of software and services that can set its smartphones apart from an increasingly crowded field of handset makers running Google ’s Android platform.
“We’ve been very focused on the next generation of software and services,” said David Eun, the Samsung executive who spearheaded the deal. Mr. Eun said LoopPay would join Samsung’s mobile division, which is building a platform to provide consumer services related to payments, including tracking loyalty points and spending habits.
The purchase of a mobile payment firm for an undisclosed amount will put the South Korean smartphone maker against other technology giants with mobile payment services, including Google Inc., eBay Inc.’s PayPal and Apple Pay, which started in the U.S. last autumn.
Analysts say some details still need to be worked out. But if the technology works as promised, it could give Samsung an edge compared with rivals who have struggled to persuade merchants to upgrade checkout devices to accommodate the near-field communication, or NFC, technology that powers services like Apple Pay and Google Wallet.
Samsung’s service, which is expected to be released when Samsung unveils its Galaxy S6 smartphone in Barcelona in about a week’s time, would allow a consumer to register credit, debit, gift and loyalty cards onto a Samsung smartphone, and use the handset to make purchases, instead of carrying the cards in a physical wallet.
A number big U.S. retailers favour an alternative mobile wallet solution called CurrentC, which will be issued this year and relies on a different technology. Some members of that consortium, which include Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. , CVS Health Corp. and Rite Aid Corp. , have quietly turned off their NFC readers to block Apple Pay and other alternatives.
