LG Electronics Inc. that has been lagging behind its peers in offering a killer mobile payment app will finally introduce its own mobile payment service dubbed LG Pay that is similar to the one adopted by its biggest local rival Samsung Electronics Co.’s Samsung Pay.

The company announced Wednesday that its latest flagship smartphone G6 will start to offer the LG Pay in Korea in June. The new mobile wallet service will be run based on wireless magnetic communication (WMC) technology developed by Dynamics Inc., a U.S. payment solution company, allowing its users to upload a multiple number of credit cards on their smartphone without carrying actual cards.

The WMC technology that generates a magnetic signal from a mobile device will allow its users to pay for purchases by simply tapping their phones to a general credit card terminal. This is different from near field communication (NFC) technology adopted by Apple Pay that requires a separate terminal for payment transaction but is similar to Samsung Pay’s magnetic security transmission (MST) technology, which Samsung Electronics gained through its acquisition of American mobile payment firm LoopPay. LG Electronics said there should be no patent dispute with Samsung Electronics as the WMC is a proprietary mobile payment technology developed by Dynamics in 2007.

LG Electronics on Tuesday inked a partnership agreement with Dynamics to use the WMC technology in LG smartphones with a plan to make the LG Pay services available in the latest flagship G6 starting June through a software upgrade program.

The company also plans to allow LG Pay users to pay for online purchases and add a loyalty card feature later. Currently, seven local credit cards companies agreed to provide digital wallet services through LG Pay and one is in talks, said LG Electronics.

By Seo Dong-cheol

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