NEW YORK: Samsung Electronics has acquired LoopPay, a US mobile payments firm that could help it counter the Apple Pay mobile payments system.
LoopPay produces small add-on devices for smartphones that can transmit credit card information in conjunction with a mobile app. When the devices are held within a few centimeters of a traditional magnetic strip reader, the information can be sent wirelessly to make a payment.
LoopPay’s Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology creates magnetic fields that simulate those generated with a magnetic strip, and effectively turns card readers into contactless payment devices without modifications.
The approach differs from that of NFC (near field communication) used in Apple Pay, which requires retailers to have contactless payment terminals that can accept NFC signals.
Massachusetts-based LoopPay claims its solution can work at about 90 percent of point-of-sale terminals in the US, which would give Samsung an advantage in mobile payments.
