Samsung’s acquisition of LoopPay cost $250 million, according to a Re/code article by Jason Del Ray. LoopPay’s technology is going to be used to power Samsung Pay, the company’s forthcoming mPayment platform.
Despite the hefty pricetag, it could prove to be a good investment. LoopPay’s technology allows smartphone NFC payments to occur without requiring any new hardware on the part of the merchant. Meanwhile, the current leading (and pretty much only) mPayment platform, Apple Pay, requires POS terminals to have NFC technology, which is lacking in the US and some other countries. While Apple is continuously signing up new partner merchants, when Samsung Pay debuts, it will immediately have greater compatibility in these markets.
But consumers still need to be convinced that the service is worth using, and the extent to which that’s going to happen isn’t yet clear. Apple managed to get its users onboard in large numbers partly through its Touch ID biometric authentication system, but Apple users are also just really into new Apple products and services, and eager to try them. Samsung will also need to deal with rivals like Android Pay and Alipay as they debut this year, too. We’ll see if the LoopPay edge is enough to beat the competition.
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