3 Apps in South Korea transforming the digital payments industry

By Leandra Monteiro

According to Statista, the rising digital payment transaction values show that cashless payment is becoming increasingly widespread in South Korea. Having one of the highest smartphone penetration rates in the world, more and more South Koreans are making use of mobile payment methods.

Total transaction value in the Digital Payments segment is projected to reach US$205.40bn in 2023. The market’s largest segment is Digital Commerce with a projected total transaction value of US$165.40bn in 2023.

Here are 3 payment apps in South Korea to look out for:

• KakaoPay

KakaoPay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Kakao based in South Korea that allows users to make mobile payments and online transactions. Since it launched the first mobile payment service in Korea in 2014, Kakao Pay has begun offering a diverse line-up of innovative financial services including online/offline payment, money transfer, membership, bill payment, and authentication.

Kakao Pay has been building a lifestyle financial platform leading the transition into a wallet-less society where all we need is a smartphone to pursue any economic activity at any time in any place.

• Naver Pay

Naver Pay is a mobile payment service launched by Naver Corporation in South Korea. It is Naver’s second mobile payment service after Line Pay, which was launched by Naver’s Japanese subsidiary, Line Corporation in 2014. Naver has partnered with multiple local banks and credit card companies to provide payment solutions to customers.

Naver provides QR-based payment solutions for businesses. It allows companies to retrieve card subscription information and bank securities from financial companies.

• (Viva Republica) Toss Payments

Toss is an app-based platform for banking, investment, and insurance management. It offers solutions such as money transfer, payment splitting, QR code scanning, card management, and more.

It enables users to track income and expenses for financial reporting. It offers a multi-investment and portfolio management platform for real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and securities. Toss also introduced a simple remittance service that allows easy and fast remittance without an official certificate.