Samsung buys LoopPay in warning shot to Apple

Samsung wants "to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly mobile wallet."

Read the whole story

 

[Lonyo]

I need to carry my card around anyway.
I can use my card for payments either with chip and pin, magnetic strip or "contactless".

I don't need my phone to be able to make payments.

This is a US problem in search of a solution, the rest of the world won't give anywhere near as much of a crap.
(Because the US has refused to adopt more up to date credit/debit cards, not for any other reason).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31164806

Transactions have more than tripled, from payments worth £653m in 2013, to £2.32bn last year.

Barclaycard said contactless cards had been most popular in London, where 30% of all transactions below £20 were contactless.

In Leeds, 27% of transactions were contactless, and in Cambridge the figure was 15%.

(£20 is the current transaction limit, to be increased to £30 shortly. Most people primarily use their cards at some restaurants, supermarkets/grocery stores, public transport systems etc)

 

[dlux]

JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement “Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly- "

<needle scratch on vinyl record>

You were already pushing things at 'smartest'.

 

[Deleted member 330960]

So a phone case that emulates a magnetic strip for my 6" phone with room for a few cards inside it?
Oh please tell me more /s https://imaginepepperland.files.wordpre ... e-more.jpg

 

[aexcorp]

The LoopPay method is quite clever but should have been pushed earlier on.

Now that many US companies are upgrading their POSs to include NFC, it seriously diminishes the underlying idea, which was to develop a system that's compatible with all the existing infrastructure while providing benefits in terms of security and convenience.

I hope Samsung took that into account when they made their pricing decision.

 

[Beaudotgiles]

Google Wallet just sits in the corner. Hopes that someday Samsung will return their call.

 

[Peevester]

LoopPay is a total hack, especially with the US moving to chip validation by the end of this year. Nice waste of money, Samsung!

 

[Zak]

Samsung buys LoopPay in warning shot to Apple

I think Samsung was pointing the shotgun in the wrong direction.

 

[MBCook]

"in warning shot to Apple"

Really? That sounds like click-bait to me. I don't see how this has anything to DO with Apple other than 1) Samsung sell phones and 2) Apple has ApplePay.

Filing some kind of patent or buying up a key supplier would be a warning shot to Apple. This is "Samsung is trying mobile payments now."

The rest of the story is just hyperbolic quotes from the company it's self (surprise surprise, all companies say good things about their future prospects).

Come on guys, you can do better.

 

[DeerSteak]

Samsung wants to own the next Apple Pay, but they'll probably just own the next also-ran along with Google Wallet, Softcard/ISIS, etc., etc.

 

[pancakesandbeyond]

The magnetic swipe system as it currently exists has already proven to be insecure. This loop pay system just makes it easier for CC thieves to carry around an entire database of stolen cards and try them all surreptitiously. It looks less suspicious than carrying around a stack of faked plastic.

In fact with the faked magnetic swipe you don't even get the CARD_NOT_PRESENT additional authentication of that CVC code.

 

[StealthFocus]

Oh please, a warning shot really? A little hyperbolic I think. A case you have to carry around? To emulate a magnetic stripe swipe? They realize end of this year is last we're seeing magnetic strips as we switch to CHIP technology finally in this country?

Why can't we just stick with NFC used by Apple and Google already that doesn't require extra crap.

 

[loombot]

Such optimism.

 

[Peevester]

SirOmega[/url]":3vb7tqnb]Warning Shot?

The only way they could make a more user friendly contactless payment system would be if they accepted my finger print on the first try. To this day, Apple Pay has yet to accept my finger print on the first try (and I've used it at my grocery store as well as Home Depot several times since its been enabled). And I doubt they'll make it any more secure than Apple's implementation. As secure maybe.

Go to the settings app, Open up "touch ID and passcode", and then go nuts scanning your finger on the touch ID from a bunch of angles. Other than a brief highlight of the recognized finger, it doesn't tell you it's doing anything, but what it's actually doing is adding more finger geometry with every scan. Do this about 20 times, rotating your finger around each time so it gets recognized, and your touch-id accuracy goes up a LOT.

I use apple pay quite often, and it's always faster than taking out my wallet and swiping my card.

 

[BrerBear]

These comments are firing a warning shot at the site.
Step up your headline choices, please. You're Ars Technica, remember?

 

[RndNum123]

dlux[/url]":1vayknp8]JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics, said in a statement “Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly- "

<needle scratch on vinyl record>

You were already pushing things at 'smartest'.

I think he forgot one word, obviously it should have been:

"most secure, MOST user-friendly"

 

[dlux]

This thread needs moar "warning shot" comments. Come on, people!

 

[StealthFocus]

SirOmega[/url]":1chj9sfv]

To this day, Apple Pay has yet to accept my finger print on the first try.

You have a broken TouchID sensor. I've had my 5S since launch and TouchID sucked so I disabled it, it barely ever worked. This christmas I ended up with a cracked screen and while I was buying a new Mac I mentioned it to the Apple salesperson and they replaced the screen for free despite being out of warranty (YMMV).

Now, on iPhone the home button is part of the screen so it's all swapped out as one unit. Since they replaced the screen the TouchID has been nearly flawless. I was always surprised at people saying their TouchID was like magic because that wasn't my experience. However with the new one it really is magical how well it works. I think you have a faulty sensor issue like me.

 

[perrosdelaguerra]

StealthFocus[/url]":2zjj3mco]Oh please, a warning shot really? A little hyperbolic I think. A case you have to carry around? To emulate a magnetic stripe swipe? They realize end of this year is last we're seeing magnetic strips as we switch to CHIP technology finally in this country?

Why can't we just stick with NFC used by Apple and Google already that doesn't require extra crap.

My guess is that they'd build the technology into their phones, alongside NFC. I'm not saying that's a good thing, but I can't imagine how dumb Samsung would have to be to foist a LoopPay-style case on its customers just to make this thing work.

I am also puzzled by the move, but figure it's probably just a way to get a head start on their own payment system. And they'll probably make it work with NFC, too.

 

[AdamM]

Lonyo[/url]":3t4uwfsg]I need to carry my card around anyway.
I can use my card for payments either with chip and pin, magnetic strip or "contactless".

I don't need my phone to be able to make payments.

This is a US problem in search of a solution, the rest of the world won't give anywhere near as much of a crap.
(Because the US has refused to adopt more up to date credit/debit cards, not for any other reason).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31164806

Transactions have more than tripled, from payments worth £653m in 2013, to £2.32bn last year.

Barclaycard said contactless cards had been most popular in London, where 30% of all transactions below £20 were contactless.

In Leeds, 27% of transactions were contactless, and in Cambridge the figure was 15%.

(£20 is the current transaction limit, to be increased to £30 shortly. Most people primarily use their cards at some restaurants, supermarkets/grocery stores, public transport systems etc)

I personally prefer just waving my phone over a reader and dropping down my fingerprint versus pulling out my wallet and awkwardly juggling a card, my wallet, and whatever I bought. To each their own I suppose.

 

[phuul]

MathMusic[/url]":3il6wyje]The US is looking for a new solution. I personally hope that having retailers familiar with the idea of paying via smart phone will increase the acceptance of Bitcoin in real life. If both parties know how to use the tech, sending Bitcoin in person is as quick as scanning a QR code.

You lost me at QR code. The sooner this "technology" dies the better.

 

[Toleraen]

StealthFocus[/url]":1mhc4roo]Oh please, a warning shot really? A little hyperbolic I think. A case you have to carry around? To emulate a magnetic stripe swipe? They realize end of this year is last we're seeing magnetic strips as we switch to CHIP technology finally in this country?

Why can't we just stick with NFC used by Apple and Google already that doesn't require extra crap.

Magnetic stripes aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Q3 2015 is the target for chip/pin, but the entire industry won't be there day one. Plus, that just covers PCI related solutions. There are still closed loop payment methods, which I doubt retailers will want to spend the cash on a chip/pin for each throw-away card they issue. Mag stripes will still be the backup method, just like everywhere else.

Edit: To clarify, I meant backup method until chip/pin is completely ubiquitous.

 

[MattEvansC3]

If anything it sounds more like a "warning shot" at Google than anything else.

On its own, its nothing significant but coupled with the recent news of Samsung employing Microsoft's services and their strained relationship with Google it does point to them telling Google we don't need you...or it could just be that these are the new wireless charging plates and Samsung see them as a profitable accessory.

 

[adipose]

StealthFocus[/url]":2s7ug915]

SirOmega[/url]":2s7ug915]

To this day, Apple Pay has yet to accept my finger print on the first try.

You have a broken TouchID sensor.

You don't know that. He may have a hard to read fingerprint. At my company we use fingerprints for our punchcard system, and about 1 in 50 people cannot get the system to read their fingerprints after a few weeks. Typically they are people with very rough hands (calluses make it hard to have a consistent fingerprint) or people who use a lot of lotion (lotion tends to smooth out the skin and leave few ridges). We have to rescan their fingerprint every few weeks or just give them another option (magnetic card).

 

[Booda]

dlux[/url]":g16qfge8]This thread needs moar "warning shot" comments. Come on, people!

If the description of this LoopPay thing is accurate, Samsung is firing a warning shot at its own customers. In the same way that Dick Cheney fired a warning shot at his friend Harry Whittington.

 

[ryaninlondon]

Peevester[/url]":3fxh50t7]LoopPay is a total hack, especially with the US moving to chip validation by the end of this year. Nice waste of money, Samsung!

Seriously, I actually scratched my head for a second when reading this. Canada's major banks did away with mag-stripe payment systems years ago, and now it is extraordinarily rare to encounter a pay system where you still need to swipe. I actually get leery of merchants who haven't upgraded yet. Moreover, nearly every merchant in major cities support NFC -- so you actually just tap your credit card, which is also more convenient than loop pay. It's a bit perplexing when people innovate technology to take steps backwards... and even more perplexing when a major corporation buys it. I'm guessing this has to do with third world payment processing?

 

[Fotek]

Toleraen[/url]":dehyzhrj]

StealthFocus[/url]":dehyzhrj]Oh please, a warning shot really? A little hyperbolic I think. A case you have to carry around? To emulate a magnetic stripe swipe? They realize end of this year is last we're seeing magnetic strips as we switch to CHIP technology finally in this country?

Why can't we just stick with NFC used by Apple and Google already that doesn't require extra crap.

Magnetic stripes aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Q3 2015 is the target for chip/pin, but the entire industry won't be there day one. Plus, that just covers PCI related solutions. There are still closed loop payment methods, which I doubt retailers will want to spend the cash on a chip/pin for each throw-away card they issue. Mag stripes will still be the backup method, just like everywhere else.

Maybe this is true in the US but magnetic stripes are more or less dead in the UK and mainland Europe. Good luck trying to get something like LoopPay to work over here.

 

[clackerd]

Dark Helmet: Fire a warning shot across her nose.
[Warning shot almost hits Vespa's Benz]
Dark Helmet: Careful, you idiot! I said across her nose, not up it!

 

[jfgilbert]

In a couple of months, the commenters will knowingly state that Apple copied Samsung (again) with Apple Pay. In a couple of years the same cognoscenti will state as established fact that Apple stole Apple Pay from LoopPay who had it all figured out long before, but made the mistake of showing it to Steve Jobs.

 

[The Quick &amp; The Read]

MBCook[/url]":75niakgc]"in warning shot to Apple"

Really? That sounds like click-bait to me. I don't see how this has anything to DO with Apple other than 1) Samsung sell phones and 2) Apple has ApplePay.

Filing some kind of patent or buying up a key supplier would be a warning shot to Apple. This is "Samsung is trying mobile payments now."

The rest of the story is just hyperbolic quotes from the company it's self (surprise surprise, all companies say good things about their future prospects).

Come on guys, you can do better.

Mentioning Apple drives up the views.

More to the point, looking back you can tell that Apple had Apple Pay in the pipeline when they acquired the fingerprint company.

I'd love to see what Samsungs pipeline looks like.

 

[Booda]

The Quick & The Read[/url]":2v4obbb3]

I'd love to see what Samsungs pipeline looks like.

Phrasing!

 

[r3loaded]

Well, this is going to be completely useless in the UK. I don't think most POS terminals even have a magnetic stripe reader anymore (or if they do, they're deactivated). Heck, even my local family-owned corner shop now accepts NFC payments in addition to EMV chip cards!

 

[Davinchy]

I'm sure they don't plan on going with this silly case addition. I bet they are planning on building the technology into their phones. It would be a handy addition to a phone to be able to talk with mag strip machines. I can imagine a LOT of hacking possibilities that would make this "feature" an unwanted advance though. Remember the gizmo john conner used in terminator to wipe out the atm?

 

[HotelQuebec]

Still prefer chip based credit cards since they're easier, reliable since it doesn't run out of battery, thin, you don't risk constantly pulling out your phone and dropping or scratching it, free to replace if lost, etc. But between Apple Pay and LoopPay the removable token makes a lot more sense for similar reasons.

 

[The Ginger Rat]

r3loaded[/url]":1507xmdr]Well, this is going to be completely useless in the UK. I don't think most POS terminals even have a magnetic stripe reader anymore (or if they do, they're deactivated). Heck, even my local family-owned corner shop now accepts NFC payments in addition to EMV chip cards!

Yup. As someone dependent on a US credit card it was nuts in Leiden trying to find a place that would accept a swipe card other than Starbucks near the hotel and where I was visiting. Many of the small shops actually had the swipe slots physically blocked.

Finally got my chip card from WF. As a Canadian, I say it's 'bout time.

 

[Mitlov]

jfgilbert[/url]":l67z73u3]In a couple of months, the commenters will knowingly state that Apple copied Samsung (again) with Apple Pay. In a couple of years the same cognoscenti will state as established fact that Apple stole Apple Pay from LoopPay who had it all figured out long before, but made the mistake of showing it to Steve Jobs.

The purple who know what they're talking about will point out that Google Wallet predated both, and won't worry about the "copying" argument, since no one company owns the concept of NFC payments.

 

[Cheesewhiz]

This seems like a great move by Samsung. For 2002.

Mag stripe cards are largely being phased out. So unless I'm missing something about the technology, this seems utterly outdated.

 

[Daemonworks]

"European-style chip-and-PIN-based cards"

See also Canada.