LG will be launching its own mobile payment that will compete against Apple Pay, Android Pay and Samsung Pay.
LG is the latest company looking at mobile payments as the next big service. Its LG Pay is a service that will presumably turn its smartphones into digital wallets. It will be used in all LG smartphones, unlike Samsung Pay which is available only in the recent Samsung smartphone models, according to Reuters.
The South Korean tech manufacturer signed the agreement with South Korea's largest and second-largest credit card firms Shinhan Card Co Ltd and KB Kookmin Card Co Ltd, but did not give a timetable or description of its planned technology. Companies are eager to push mobile payments in the belief that the additional service will build consumer loyalty.
However, the company also did not indicate whether LG Pay will allow users to physically pay for goods and services by waving their smartphone at a cash register just like the three giant mobile payments. Also, it is not clear if the mobile payment service simply permits someone to more easily make online purchases on an LG device.
The idea of paying for goods and services using smartphones with NFC has been around for years, CNet reported. Apple Pay helped sparked consumer interest in the area in the last quarter of 2014, and was followed by Google's Android Pay and the Samsung Pay systems.
The South Korean multinational electronics company has yet to announce how their mobile payment system would work. But it is like that LG will be using NFC just like Android Pay and Apple Pay, and it may work as seamless as Android Pay does.