LG, the South Korean technology company, has filed a patent in the U.S. to offer a complete payment system on future models of its smartphones.

The application for a product called ThinQ Wallet was filed by LG with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last week and is described in the filing as a software application for mobile phones to enable “transaction authorization and settlement services”.

Services on Offer

Other services the ThinQ Wallet will offer include:

  • Supervision of payment processing operations and of computer payment processing systems
  • Providing information relating to financial and monetary affairs
  • Payment and receipt of money as agents
  • Issuance of cyber money
  • Issuance of membership cards in the nature of credit cards and stored value cards
  • Brokerage of mobile and internet payment, namely, establishing funded accounts used to purchase goods and services through mobile devices and on the Internet
  • Mobile and internet payment services, namely, processing electronic funds transfer via mobile computing
  • Integrated services of mobile electronic wallet and mobile payment, namely, credit card payment processing services, processing electronic payments made through prepaid cards

Competitors

By applying for this patent LG has thrown down the gauntlet to its domestic rival Samsung, which introduced a mobile wallet app for cryptocurrencies on its Galaxy S10 series launched this spring that allows users to store bitcoin and ether.

The move also adds weight to how seriously technology firms are taking the growth of crpytocurrencies given the number of companies now fighting for a slice of the action in the market.

Early adopters such as IBM pioneered the way for tech companies to launch crypto-related offerings, and last month Facebook announced it was entering the arena with a crypto-asset and wallet venture called Libra.

LG Blockchain

LG has been testing a number of blockchain offerings in the past few years, including an international payments system based on distributed ledger technology, and set up – in partnership with drugs company Celltrion and financial services group UnionBank – a network called the Klaytn blockchain.

LG also announced that its Monachain network, launched last year will be used to track the provenance of agricultural products.