LG Pay will be coming to more countries, devices, and banks in the not-too-distant future, according to the company’s mobile division head Cho Jun-ho. The firm’s mobile payment solution had a slow start as it was facing a number of delays during development and was reportedly close to being canceled due to a number of issues before finally debuting in LG’s home country in early June. Cho is now confident that the service will expand its reach somewhat soon, though the tech giant’s senior executive has yet to provide a more detailed timeframe for that expansion. In a Wednesday statement given to The Investor, Cho said that the Seoul-based original equipment manufacturer (OEM) has been almost exclusively focused on improving the quality of its mobile tool during its first month on the market and has already gathered vast amounts of feedback on the service.
Apart from improving and expanding upon the functionality of LG Pay, the company is already looking at overseas markets and thinking about launching the platform in other countries with the help of new partners, Cho said. Adding support for more payment methods will likely be a crucial step in the firm’s plan to expand the scope of LG Pay and the same goes for the system’s list of compatible devices. The mobile payment solution currently only works on the LG G6 lineup and is thought to be supported on the upcoming LG V30 that most industry watchers expect to be unveiled in late summer. The solution itself utilizes Wireless Magnetic Communication technology and is currently most popular among consumers in their 30s, with Cho stating how that demographic currently accounts for close to 40 percent of LG Pay’s user base. Older consumers are also said to be quickly adopting the solution, though no specific figures for them have yet been given.
LG Pay will eventually also support online payments, Cho revealed, though it’s currently unclear when the Seoul-based consumer electronics manufacturer is planning to debut that functionality. The service will trickle down to LG’s mid-range and entry-level devices in 2018, which is also when it might have its first overseas launch. While no specifics have yet been shared by the Korean tech giant in any capacity, it’s understood that its foreign ambitions related to LG Pay will initially be focused on the United States.