LG’s new mobile payment idea is actually pretty old-school

Samsung Pay works on Samsung devices; Android Pay works on most devices. Yes, but it won’t need any phone. No doubt the images are real. Three big problems here: One, the card is clearly black and the name makes no sense; two, that is a battery icon on that small, low-powered digital display; and three, that’s a charging connector on the far left, showing strong evidence that you will, indeed, need to charge this card. And it sure as hell doesn’t seem any easier than Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Chase Pay, Google Pay, or any of the other Pay products already out there.

Even so, nearly every single smart card has shown that they just don’t work; Or at most, fail to deliver the promise of a hassle-free, plastic-free existence. The exciting thing is that LG Pay will not require the use of a smartphone. If you have ever heard of Coin, this is essentially what White Card will be. The idea is that you can switch between cards easily as opposed to having to look for different cards for different purposes. It will reportedly work with magnetic strip card readers, but not the new chip readers. It can also store loyalty cards that can be selected during a purchase. The two buttons will be used for switching between cards while the small screen will indicate status of the card-if it’s active or not.

LG is set to unveil its LG Pay White Card at the MWC event. An LG Pay partner said that transactions would be between the person and the finance company directly-nothing between LG and the user.

Other smart cards, like Stratos, Coin and Plastc have tried and failed to add modern tech and convenience to our flexible friends, so it’s hard to see LG enjoying more success.

We’re told to expect this at the Mobile World Congress this February.

As for United States availability, not much is known.