Galaxy S6 To Launch Samsung Into Mobile Payments

The ongoing battle between Apple and Samsung looks set to expand even further following reports that the latter’s upcoming Galaxy S6 smartphone will feature a competitor to Apple Pay.

Samsung will look to take the fight to its big rival by implementing an in-built payments service into the device, meaning customers will be able to pay for goods and services with a tap of their smartphone.

Reports from the company’s home nation of South Korea say that the upcoming device will sport technology from American firm LoopPay alongside extra security authentication via the fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button.

Swiped

This potentially puts Samsung ahead of Apple Pay, which is built on NFC technology, whereas the technology set to be in the Galaxy S6 will mimic a credit card swipe.

Samsung and LoopPay have a history of working together, with the payments provider recently revealing a protective rear case for Galaxy S5 devices which allows users to pay for their goods or services via a quick touch (pictured above).

LoopPay also announced at CES that it is working with rugged case manufacturer Trident Case to produce a payment-enabled case for the Samsung Note 4, with availability later in 2015.

Coming soon?

There have been many rumours surrounding the Galaxy S6, as Samsung has not released a new flagship smartphone since last year’s Mobile World Congress, where it unveiled the Galaxy S5.

This has included the implementation of a curved-edge display, similar to that seen on Samsung’s Note 4 Edge phablet (pictured right), as well as a premium metal body, as seen in the A7 and A5 smartphones released by the company last year.

The South Korean manufacturer revealed last week that declining revenues from smartphone sales had hit its overall returns, as earnings from smartphones and other mobile gadgets dropped 64 percent annually in the fourth quarter period from October to December, the mobile division’s fifth consecutive quarter of decline.

Samsung remains the world’s leading smartphone manufacturer, but this title is now under significant threat from Apple, which reported record sales of its latest flagship devices during the last quarter.

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