Samsung Is Working On An Apple Pay Competitor That Works In A Lot More Stores

Samsung is working with a company called LoopPay to integrate LoopPay technology into one of its smartphones next year, according to the report. (The report warns that talks aren't finalized and could still fall through.)

LoopPay's technology is able to wirelessly talk to regular magnetic stripe credit card readers, meaning it can theoretically work in a lot more locations than Apple Pay.

Right now, LoopPay makes you plug a special dongle into your phone or use a separate fob. There's also a special smartphone case that charges your phone and talks to credit card readers.

If the deal goes through, that system will be built into a new Samsung phone.

Apple Pay only works if the merchant has a special near field communication (NFC) pad that can talk to the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. The vast majority of merchants don't support Apple Pay, although several big names like Walgreens, McDonald's, and Whole Foods do accept it.

Samsung will launch its next flagship phone, the so-called Galaxy S6, in early 2015. We've heard the earliest the phone will be announced will be around the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona in early March.

Samsung's current top-tier phones, the Galaxy S5 and Galaxy Note 4, already have PayPal integration that works in conjunction with a fingerprint sensor embedded in the home button. But PayPal is accepted in fewer stores than even Apple Pay, so it's probably not getting much use. If Samsung partners with LoopPay, that could put a strain on its partnership with PayPal.

We've reached out to Samsung for comment and will update if we hear back.