LG Pay Shuts Down This Year As Mobile Business Winds Down

As one of Samsung's eternal rivals, it wasn't really a surprise that LG would also roll out its own mobile payment system with almost similar capabilities as Samsung Pay. Of course, LG wanted LG Pay to be able to do more but the system's rather troubled beginnings seemed to prefigure its untimely demise. Although less than four years in the US, the company announced that it will be shutting down LG Pay in stages, which isn't exactly surprising since it is also shutting down its mobile business anyway.

The vision for LG Pay was admittedly interesting and predated Apple launching its Apple Card. Back when Samsung focused solely on NFC and MST technologies for Samsung Pay, LG was rumored to be working on a physical "White Card" for its cash-less payment system. In the end, however, LG Pay adopted MST as well but never really took off even in key markets like South Korea and the US.

Now LG is informing its customers in the US that it made the painful decision to phase out LG Pay, a.k.a. LG Pay Wallet. It will probably come as a disappointment for loyal LG followers who may have been hoping to hold on to the last slivers of LG's mobile business for a while longer. The good news is that, at their own risk, they can stretch it out until November this year.

LG Pay won't be shutting down immediately but its features will die little by little. Starting June 1, users won't be able to purchase or add gift cards anymore while August 1, 2021, marks the end for accepting new users. On November 1, 2021, LG Pay in the US will shut down completely and will no longer be usable.

LG says that users will still be able to make payments until that date but also advises them to start preparing for it by using up all their Perks Card balances. Users should also back up any other gift cards they may have saved in LG Pay. And those completely frustrated by all of these can also unenroll early rather than wait for that dark day.