Samsung is preparing to launch its own Apple Pay competitor in 2015, according to sources familiar with the company’s plans — and it could be teaming up with LoopPay to make it even more successful. Just like Apple’s offering, Samsung’s will allow the owners of its smartphone to pay for goods simply by waving their devices at a machine, but it may not rely on NFC.

“It is not yet clear if Samsung has reached a deal with the startup, Burlington, Mass.-based LoopPay,” Recode reports, citing multiple sources. “One source said the deal could still fall apart. A prototype of the payments system working on a Samsung phone has been created, the other source said.”

Apple Pay is already changing the way we shop both online and in brick-and-mortar retail stores. It allows us to leave our credit cards at home when we go shopping and use our iPhones to pay for our purchases simply by holding them in front of an NFC terminal. The technology also negates the need for signatures and PIN codes, instead using Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner for authorization.

Rival companies have attempted to launch similar services in the past, but none have taken off like Apple Pay has — thanks mostly due to their complexity. But now that Apple has demonstrated how such payment systems should be done properly, others are using the same approach to try to compete.

And of course, no company can compete with Apple using its own ideas quite like Samsung does.

Samsung has already been working with PayPal to provide mobile payments via its smartphones, but in an effort to build a better system that could be even more successful than Apple’s, the company is said to be discussing a licensing deal with LoopPay that would give it the technology it needs.

LoopPay already produces a number of products that can wirelessly transmit the data stored in the magnetic strip on the back or your credit or debit card to retail checkout equipment. What’s more, since the technology mimics a card swipe instead of using NFC, it’s already supported in a larger number of stores than Apple Pay.

Neither Samsung or LoopPay would comment on these claims at this time, but LoopPay CEO Will Graylin confirmed earlier this month that his company’s technology would be integrated into a mainstream smartphone in 2015 what would have “massive penetration.” Graylin didn’t name which phone, but that description certainly suits a Samsung flagship like the Galaxy S6.

• SourceRecode