[THE INVESTOR] LG Electronics said on Jan. 9 it will launch its mobile payment system in the United States during the first half of this year.

LG Pay has been in service in Korea since June last year and is moving to catch up with Samsung Pay, which is currently available in 18 countries, including the United States, China, Australia, Britain, Singapore, Spain and Switzerland.

Based on the Wireless Magnetic Communication technology, LG Pay allows users to make payments by touching their smartphones to regular credit card devices.

Samsung Pay provides the same feature through the Magnetic Secure Transmission technology.

LG said it is considering launching its mobile payment system as LG Wallet in the US.

The tech giant said it is expanding the mobile payment system function, from premium devices to its K10 smartphone and other mid-range mobile phones this year.

In the US, LG said it will launch the mobile payment system with its G7 and V40 premium phones this year before expanding to mid-range phones next year.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)