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LG Pay to start service in June, G6 assumes top sales

March 22, 2017 - 18:07 By Shin Ji-hye
LG Electronics’ mobile payment service LG Pay will be available in its new flagship smartphone G6 in June in partnership with the US payment solution company Dynamics, the company said Wednesday.

LG Pay, which will be available through a software update, will use wireless magnetic communication technology Dynamics developed in 2007. 
Models pose with the LG G6 in this photo released by LG Electronics Inc. in a shop in Seoul on March 12, 2017. (Yonhap)

“Dynamics is (LG’s) strategic partner securing the most advanced technology in the mobile payment business. We will try to give more benefits to consumers through LG Pay,” said Kim Hong-joo, head of LG Electronics’ mobile communications product planning unit.

The technology allows users to hover their smartphone over a credit card reader to pay with their phone like Samsung Pay currently does. Users can use their several credit cards saved in their phone without having to physically carry them. The firm plans to expand the service into online payment, membership services and banking services.

Out of the eight credit card companies here, seven have so far decided to take part in the service and LG said it is in talks with the remaining one, without specifying the name. The service will only be available in Korea and the company has no immediate plan to launch it in the global market.

Meanwhile, LG’s new flagship smartphone G6, which was ambitiously rolled out on Mar. 10, has been well received here in the absence of new premium phones such as Galaxy and iPhone handsets, data showed.

According to local research firm Atals Research & Consulting, the G6 took first place in the local smartphone market in the first week since its launch. During the first two days, G6 sold more than 30,000 units, the company said.

G6 recently passed 14 durability tests carried out by the US Department of Defense, meaning the handset is durable enough to be used for military operations. The phone was tested in seven extreme environments including low and high temperatures, extreme humidity, vibration, low pressure, heavy dust, underwater and with thermal shocks.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)