Samsung (SSNLF) has discussed a deal with a payments startup that would help the smartphone maker unveil a wireless mobile payments system in 2015 to rival Apple, according to multiple sources.

The technology would allow people with certain Samsung phones to pay in the vast majority of brick-and-mortar stores by waving their phones instead of swiping with a credit card or cash.

It is not yet clear if Samsung has reached a deal with the startup, Burlington, Mass.-based LoopPay. 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.

A Samsung spokesman and LoopPay CEO Will Graylin declined to comment.

The talks between Samsung and LoopPay come as the idea of paying for goods in stores using a phone was rekindled in the U.S. thanks to the launch of Apple Pay. In September,Apple unveiled its payments system, which lets owners of the newest iPhones pay for items in stores by placing their phone in close proximity to checkout equipment.

Apple Pay users complete the purchase through an authentication process that involves pressing one's finger against the fingerprint identification sensor built into the phone's home button. Samsung's latest Galaxy phone also includes fingerprint identification technology, which would likely be incorporated into the new payments system, sources said. The technology can currently be used in conjunction with PayPal's app to pay with a phone at stores that accept PayPal. Samsung could be interested in creating its own payments system because it believes such a technology will become table stakes in its battle with Apple.

For LoopPay, a Samsung licensing agreement would go a long way toward giving its technology the mainstream credibility it so far lacks. LoopPay's technology can wirelessly transmit the same information stored on a debit or credit card's magnetic stripe to a store's checkout equipment without swiping a card. The company has embedded the technology, which it calls magnetic secure transmission, into a few hardware products it sells directly to consumers: A fob, as well as a LoopPay digital payment card that can be used on its own or while secured in a special LoopPay smartphone case. To complete a purchase, LoopPay users tap any of these devices near the spot on a store's credit card terminal where a card is usually swiped.