‘Apple Pay’, Apple’s contactless simple payment system, started service in Korea. Attention is focusing on the impact it will have on the simple payment market, where the average daily payment amount is about 1 trillion won, as well as the card industry and the smartphone market.
Apple and Hyundai Card held a ‘special event’ at ‘Hyundai Card Understage’ in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the 21st and announced that they would start Apple Pay. If you register your Hyundai Card on your iPhone, you can make payments without the physical card at stores that have compatible terminals. Visa/Mastercard brand credit cards issued by Hyundai Card or credit/debit cards exclusively for domestic payments can be used. Chung Tae-young, vice chairman of Hyundai Card, said, “(In the morning alone), 170,000 people have already registered for Apple Pay.”
For the time being, only Hyundai Card users can use Apple Pay. This is because other card companies are contemplating the timing of introduction due to high fees. Currently, its uses are limited. Because Apple Pay uses near field communication (NFC) technology, it can be used on a limited basis at convenience stores, department stores, large marts, and cafes equipped with compatible terminals. Although large companies are actively installing NFC terminals, the introduction rate is still only 10%, so it will take time to expand to small and medium-sized merchants.
The movement of the domestic simple payment industry to respond to Apple Pay has also accelerated. As Samsung Electronics signed a business agreement with Naver Financial last month, Samsung Pay payment is now possible at online Naver Pay payment stores. In addition, if you run the Naver application offline, you can make payments like Samsung Pay. KB Kookmin Card, Shinhan Card, Lotte Card, and Hana Card also introduced Open Pay, which allows users to register and use third-party cards in the Pay app.
Although Apple Pay is receiving a lot of attention, some predict that the impact on the domestic simple payment market will not be significant right away. This is because it may be difficult to exert great influence in the situation where the share of big tech companies such as Naver and Kakao in the simple payment market already reached 50% as of the first half of last year.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.