Samsung is about to launch a direct competitor to Apple Pay that works at millions more places

Samsung plans to integrate LoopPay - a competitor to Apple Pay - into the upcoming Galaxy S6 smartphone, GigaOm reports.

LoopPay, like Apple Pay, is a wireless payment system, but it uses a different technology that can be used at way more locations.

With LoopPay, a metallic coil generates a magnetic current, which transmits to magnetic strip card readers found in most modern payment terminals. In other words, merchants don't need anything special for LoopPay to work at their store - it works anywhere where a credit or debit card would work. 

This is different to Apple Pay, which requires merchants to have special near-field communication terminals, vastly limiting the number of retailers that use it. Many have outright rejected the mobile payment system.

The diagram below, created by LoopPay, illustrates the advantage of their technology. LoopPay can be used at over 10 million retail locations in the US; Apple Pay can only be used at 220,000 locations. 

LoopPay technology already exists in custom smartphone cases and dongles, which you would plug into your phone.

The latest GigaOm report, which references Korean-language news site DDaily, builds on earlier rumours from Re/code sources that Samsung might be working with LoopPay. 

LoopPay CEO Will Graylin also promised at CES in January that we would see the technology implemented in a smartphone by the end of 2015.

LoopPay also sounds like a better answer to an app called "CurrentC," which some retailers, including Wal-Mart, have said they will use as an alternative to Apple Pay.

While LoopPay doesn't go into much detail on its website about security, it's likely that the technology will implement similar protocols to Apple Pay. The encrypted card details and TouchID compatibility make it safer than carrying a credit card. If someone steals your phone, for example, they won't have access to your account.

Here's a LoopPay video explaining the technology: