Apple Pay may have a new competitor in the mobile wallet space. LoopPay’s payment solution is essentially a souped-up phone case with an embedded chip capable of sending transaction data to most point of sale terminals via their magnetic stripe reader. That means merchants don’t need to buy a new system or learn new software in order to accept LoopPay. According to its website, LoopPay works at 90 percent of merchant stores — more stores than apple pay. While LoopPay can be accepted at more stores and works with more card issuers than Apple Pay, it also comes with a price tag. LoopPay charges $60 for its phone case; Apple Pay and Google Wallet don’t charge a thing. Plus, both virtual wallets come pre-loaded on their respective devices, giving both a leg up on consumer adoption.

http://venturebeat.com/2015/02/18/arming-for-battle-against-apple-pay-samsung-buys-looppay/