After several delays, LG successfully launches its mobile payment service in South Korea with plans to expand to other countries.
It’s been a while since LG first announced the upcoming launch of its own mobile payment service, LG Pay. The company aims to keep up with smartphone leaders Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Apple Inc – both have its payment systems operating in more than 10 markets. The launch of own payment system is an excellent way to differentiate the device at a time of growing competition and slowing growth in the global smartphone market.
The whole process of LG Pay launch was not easy. Initially, LG was planning to announce its payment service in 2016 but postponed the event until 2017. The company explained the decision with the problems it encountered during testing. Reportedly, it was also waiting for the regulatory approval for the service and the White Card physical cards were not so far available in the company’s home country. In March, LG again delayed the launch of payment service until June.
And now, LG Pay is finally available in South Korea and is making its way to G6 devices via a software update. The company also unveils ambitious plans to bring the service to other smartphones later.
LG Pay differs from Samsung Pay with Magnetic Security Transmission (MST) as it is based on the Wireless Magnetic Communication (WMC) technology. Credit card from four issuers — Shinhan, KB, BC, and Lotte — support the service but LG promises to make it work with all major cards in South Korea by the end of September.
As expected, LG Pay is very easy to use. You just place the device near a payment terminal and approve the purchase with your fingerprint. Just two actions are needed to process a transaction. In this way, the operating principle of all available mobile payment systems such as Samsung Pay or Android Pay is equal.
LG seizes the moment as mobile payment services seem to have great potential and can become big business in the near future. This is high time to enter the market. LG hasn’t unveiled exact plans of its payment service expansion so far. It usually takes some time as the company will need to get banks and credit card companies on board in each country it wants to do business in.
However, it is extremely important to enter foreign markets quickly to keep up with the competition. For instance, Google has just announced its Android Pay is now available in Taiwan. This is the 13th country for the payment service.
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