Tap, pay, go —

LG joins Apple, Google, and Samsung, launches own mobile payment service

The company is the latest to try to turn your smartphone into a digital wallet.

LG joins Apple, Google, and Samsung, launches own mobile payment service

The mobile payments arena is already crowded, but that's not stopping LG. The consumer electronics giant has announced LG Pay, the company's own mobile payment system that will likely enable its customers to complete purchases using only their smartphones.

LG has partnered with South Korean credit card issuers Shinhan Card and KB Kookmin Card, which are probably two unfamiliar names if you live outside of that country. It's not surprising that LG will roll out the service in its home country first. There's no word on how comprehensive the rollout will be, but it's likely we will have to wait a bit to see LG Pay in the US or Europe. LG did the same thing with the launch of the Watch Urbane with LTE connectivity. The cellular-powered smartwatch launched in South Korea earlier this year, and now it's just beginning to come to the US as 2015 comes to a close.

If LG Pay ends up launching in other countries, it would join the likes of Apple Pay, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay in the ever-growing mobile payments world. While Apple and Google's services dominate, Samsung's purchase of LoopPay earlier this year was a sign that it's serious about staying in the mobile payments space, despite steep competition. Also, those payment systems don't include the number of new apps from banks like Captial One that let you tap-and-pay to complete purchases.

It's important to note that we don't know what kind of functionality LG Pay will have yet. It could be similar to Apple and Android Pay in the sense that you can pay for things at brick-and-mortar stores by waving your phone up to a card reader, or it could just make it easier for customers to buy things online via stores' websites. According to TechCrunch, LG should have more details about the payment system "in the coming weeks."

Channel Ars Technica