Samsung, one of the primary Google Wallet partners, announced in late February that they would acquire mobile contactless payment platform and wallet LoopPay, which uses a proprietary phone case or keychain fob to transmit payment information to traditional point-of-sale payment terminals using patented Magnetic Secure Transmission™ technology. Terms of the acquisition, which has potential to shakeup the mobile wallet market, were not disclosed.
LoopPay, based in the Boston, Massachusetts area, will be a wholly owned subsidiary under Samsung Electronics America while co-founder and CEO Will Graylin will continue to lead the LoopPay organization in addition to becoming a co-GM for Samsung payment solutions.
This acquisition may signal that Samsung is hedging their bets to be part of the future or mobile payments, with or without Google.