LG Dips a Toe Into mPayments Market with LG Pay

South Korea-based consumer electronics maker LG has launched its own mobile payment platform called LG Pay.

The service was first rumored to be in the works back in the autumn of 2015, with LG teasing the idea further last summer, but with major brands like Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay gaining prominence, it wasn’t clear that LG would actually follow through with its own competitor. Now, LG has officially launched LG Pay in South Korea.

The service supports credit cards from BC, KB, Lotte, and Shinhan banks, and operates on the G6, LG’s latest flagship smartphone. It uses technology similar to Samsung’s MST system to ensure contactless compatibility with older, swipe-based card readers; also like Samsung Pay, as well as Apple Pay, the system requires a fingerprint scan to verify each transaction.

Given that LG Pay is currently available through only one device and in one country, with no official plans to expand it internationally, it can’t yet be considered a serious competitor in the overall mPayments market. But it does help to underline the growing excitement around mobile payments, and the increasing overlap between the consumer electronics and payments markets.

Sources: The Korea Herald, TechCrunch