Business Korea is reporting that Samsung is partnering with PayPal to round out its mobile payment strategy, specifically with smartwatches. According to Business Korea, a Samsung executive has also told them that human interface solutions provider Synaptics will also be involved to provide fingerprint authentication technology:
“We are currently developing the smart watch equipped with fingerprint identification technology and relevant solutions through cooperation with PayPal, the world’s most renowned financial transaction service company, as well as Synaptics, a global company specialized in biometric verification. By the earliest, the third generation smart watch to be released early next year will have this new system in which payment is authorized immediately when users identify themselves through biometric sensors such as a fingerprint or login.”
The partnership is a necessity for both Samsung and PayPal. Samsung needs to provide as many compelling smartwatch use cases to keep consumers locked into its smartphone hardware, and PayPal is desperately looking for partners to keep it relevant against the threat of Apple Pay’s ubiquity. If the duo can get secure payment smartwatches ready by early 2015, they will at least be able to make a first impression around the same time as the Apple Watch.
[source]Business Korea[/source][via]GigaOM[/via]
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