Tech titans speed up mobile pay war
The rivalry between Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics is expanding to mobile payment systems as the two tech giants are moving forward with the cashless system.
Samsung launched its mobile payment service Samsung Pay in India, Wednesday, expanding its presence in the industry, while LG also announced its agreement with a U.S. partner on the same day to pave the way for the launch of its own mobile payment system, LG Pay, in the first half of the year.
For Samsung, India is the 12th country where the service is available since its launch in July 2015. The other 11 markets are the United States, China, Spain, Singapore, Australia, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia and Korea.
Samsung said it signed agreements with seven major Indian financial companies such as Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and SBI Cards to provide the mobile payment system there.
In addition, it has integrated Paytm and the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) to increase the use of the platform.
“Our insights show that convenience, security and acceptance are seen by consumers as the most important influencers when choosing among different digital payment options,” said Asim Warsi, senior vice president of Samsung India.
LG and Dynamics have reached an agreement under which the Korean firm will apply the wireless magnetic communication technology of the U.S. firm to its payment system, which will be officially available in June.
LG said the technology allows people to make payments by touching their smartphones to regular credit card devices.
The payment system will be available on LG’s latest premium smartphone G6 and it plans to include it in other handsets later this year, according to the firm.
The nation’s seven credit card companies have already decided to join the mobile service, it added.
“Dynamics is a strategic partner who has the most advanced technology in the sector of mobile payments,” said Kim Hong-joo, vice president of product design at LG’s mobile division. “We will try our best to offer more benefits to consumers via LG Pay.”