LoopPay

About LoopPay

LoopPay, founded in 2012 by seasoned payment industry entrepreneurs Will Graylin and George Wallner, introduced a system designed to bridge the gap between mobile devices and existing point-of-sale (POS) infrastructure. The company was established to address the slow adoption of NFC (Near Field Communication) technology by merchants, which limited the utility of early mobile wallets like Google Wallet and later, Apple Pay. Graylin, a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful tech ventures and a background as a U.S. Nuclear Submarine Officer, brought deep experience in mobile commerce. Wallner is credited with developing the first magnetic stripe card reader as the founder of Hypercom, a company he took public.

The core of LoopPay's offering was its patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology. MST allowed a smartphone or a dedicated LoopPay device (such as a fob or phone case) to emit a magnetic signal that emulated the swipe of a traditional credit card. This meant the technology was compatible with an estimated 90% of existing magnetic stripe POS terminals in the U.S. without requiring any hardware or software upgrades from merchants. The user's credit, debit, gift, and loyalty cards could be loaded into the LoopPay mobile app, which stored the encrypted card data in secure memory, protected by a PIN and password. To make a payment, a user would hold their LoopPay device near the terminal's card reader and press a button, initiating the wireless data transmission.

The company's business model focused on providing these hardware devices to consumers, including fobs and specialized phone cases, which worked in conjunction with a free mobile app. LoopPay garnered strategic investments from entities like Visa and Synchrony Financial, which helped fuel its technology development. The firm's compatibility with legacy systems gave it a significant advantage over NFC-based competitors. In February 2015, Samsung announced its acquisition of LoopPay for a reported $250 million. This strategic acquisition was a clear move by Samsung to compete directly with Apple Pay and Google Wallet by integrating MST technology directly into its smartphones, starting with the Galaxy S6. Following the acquisition, Graylin and Wallner joined Samsung's mobile division to help lead the integration and launch of what became Samsung Pay.