Former Samsung Pay heads launch new iPhone-compatible mobile payment startup

OV Valet mobile payment platform

Former Samsung Pay heads have launched a new mobile payment solution to take on Apple Pay called OV Valet that works with magstripe readers and NFC.

The new startup is designed to be much more universally accepted compared to NFC payment platforms like Apple Pay. Users have a small fob that is able to carry out their credit card payments with the press of a button.

FinTech fans may recognize the underlying technology of OV Valet. Originally debuting as LoopPay, a fob or iPhone case could store multiple credit cards and be held close to any mag stripe reader to pay. It would broadcast a signal that mimicked the magnetic field of a credit card's magnetic strip.

Not long after the Massachusetts company debuted its initial LoopPay products, Samsung snatched them up for $250 million dollars to compete with Apple Pay. LoopPay then became the basis for Samsung Pay. Now, the original founders of LoopPay have licensed the technology back to launch OV Valet.

Even now, many places do not accept NFC contactless payments. That is what makes the new version of LoopPay, OV Valet, so appealing. OV Valet still works with magnetic readers but now NFC readers as well. Because of support for both magstrip readers and NFC through a contactless fob, 94 percent of merchants in the U.S. accept OV Valet.

Restaurants are a friction spot for Apple Pay as waiters often still have to take your card to another location to check out. Apple Pay obviously won't work in that scenario and opens up customers to have their card skimmed or number stolen.

The OV Valet fob connects to your iPhone to hold multiple credit cards at once. You can click the button once for your primary card or twice for your secondary card. It then transmits — either through NFC or magnetic signal — a one-time use token for the payment. It also acts as a Bluetooth tracker and alerts you if you leave it behind.

OV Valet is launching as a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo where people can preorder their own OV Valet fob.