Samsung is planning to launch its own leasing programme for its Galaxy phones, according to a report in Forbes. An unnamed inside source is claiming the Samsung is aiming to emulate a recent announcement by Apple that enables consumers to buy their phones direct from the vendor and avoid multi-year service contracts with carriers.

In August Samsung began testing its Samsung Pay mobile payment scheme, which it claims will be available in 90 per cent of retail locations in the US. The development of the scheme follows the launch of its rival’s Apple Pay Scheme.

Sources at Samsung say the programme may be launched, in the US only initially, within ‘several months’. Details on pricing for its leasing programme are not currently available.

The launches of both Apple and Samsung leasing schemes could herald the end of the subsiding of contracts big wireless carriers, in the US and the eventually the rest of the word, according to Forbes. This would mean that customers, who choose iPhones or Galaxies at affordable prices, will no longer have to be forced into two-year contracts. With mobile telcos moving away from that model, forcing many customers to buy their own hardware, the lack of subsidies has threatened sales for high-end phones such as the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series.

Apple announced, on its web site, its own direct leasing channel in a bid to help make its more expensive hardware more accessible to more consumers. Samsung, according to reports, is looking to create its own version of the iPhone Upgrade Program which Apple announced in September as it unveiled the iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, the iPad Pro and an updated Apple TV. The upgrade scheme encourages consumers to buy iPhones directly from the Apple Store instead of going through the carriers. Starting at $32 a month, users sign a two-year financing agreement that allows them to get new iPhones every year along with Apple Care.

Samsung’s latest phones, the Galaxy S6 Edge Plus and Galaxy Note 5, were announced in August.