Samsung acquires opy, further fragmenting the mobile payments market

BY GreenBot Staff

Published 18 Feb 2015

You know what the world needs more of? It needs more ways for you to pay with your phone, because Apple ’s existing methods aren’t enough already.

opy announced today that it’s been acquired by Samsung, the mobile giant that makes most of the Android phones you see people using on the bus ride into work everyday. CEO ll Graylin offered the following statement on the matter:

Our vision of inspiring consumers to transition from a physical wallet to a truly digital wallet will continue. I’m most excited that Samsung shares this vision has chosen to help change how we shop pay for goods services.   look forward to working with Samsung to offer the world’s most secure compelling mobile platform. The road ahead is an exciting one, we look forward to continuing this journey together.

Samsung said in its corresponding press release that the technology has the “potential to work in approximately 90 percent of existing point-of-sale terminals,” according to its own internal research, that it won’t need any new infrastructure to work. opy’s founders, ll Grayling llner, will also be folded into Samsung’s Mobile Division, it is rumored that the company’s contact-less Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology will be incorporated directly into Samsung’s forthcoming flagship device, the Galaxy S6.

y this matters: This is fantastic news for opy. The startup is known for its proprietary card case, some of which are made only to fit Apple’s ione. It’s a wonder what will happen to the ione users who use the device, if Samsung will allow opy to continue to offer support to those users.

This may turn out to be frustrating news for Android users, however, because there are already so many ways to pay for things with your phone—like llet SoftCard, the latter of which is usually bundled on devices by carriers. ’s also apparently working on a completely new mobile payment system that would rival some of the tap–go services currently offered.

So, while opy is already compatible with a large number of retailers, the implementation of it in Samsung’s devices may just end up further fragmenting the market with so many different phone payment methods.