Rumors about LG's mobile payment system called LG Pay have been circling for many months. The launch of the service has been postponed in the past and new rumors suggest that it will still be delayed until next year.
Mobile payment system has become a popular way of making payments without the use of physical debit or credits cards. The contactless payment system uses near-field communication (NFC) and a compatible device to make a payment.
A number of mobile payment systems such as Android Pay, Samsung Pay and Apple Pay are already available to customers and thousands of retailers in several countries have started accepting mobile payments. According to an International Data Corporation (IDC) report, the service is expected to account for $1 trillion in 2017, which is an increase of 124 percent when compared to 2015.
IDC also reports that mobile payment system is poised for an explosive growth in Asia/Pacific region in the near term.
"Smartphone adoption has grown much more rapidly than general banking and card adoption in the Asia/Pacific region," said Shiv Putcha, Associate Research Director, and AP Connected Consumer Marketplaces at IDC Asia/Pacific. "Recent focus on financial inclusion policies in various countries has given a boost to connecting the unbanked. This phenomenon, coupled with the innovation of semi-closed wallet schemes linked to bank accounts, has given a major boost to mobile payments in Asia-Pacific."
LG also wants to take advantage of the growing market potential; however, the launch of LG Pay has been delayed several times. Initially, LG Pay is expected to launch in South Korea and in the United States. Previous reports had also noted that LG Pay would launch in December 2015 but the company did not make any announcement for the service.
LG was expected to launch LG Pay along with the LG G5 during the 2016 MWC. However, the company wanted to focus on the launch of LG G5 and delayed LG Pay to later this year.
"LG Electronics has delayed the official launch of LG Pay to the second quarter of this year to help the new LG flagship smartphone - G5 - receive more media attention," said an LG official.
Now, Android Headlines cites sources familiar with the matter and reports that LG Pay will not launch until next year. The report suggests that LG was planning to launch LG Pay along with LG V20 in South Korea on Sept. 29.
"According to the source, the company has opted to delay the launch of LG Pay to next year, as they're having problems testing the service in Korea. Now, the report says that LG is having issues pairing the service with the universal payment 'White Card', as that card was not commercialized in Korea," says Android Headlines.
Other mobile payment systems are taking on market share in various parts of the world. If LG delays LG Pay then the service will have to do a lot of catching on with its rivals.
Photo: Karlis Dambrans | Flickr
