Heating up Competition in Mobile Payment Service Market

Apple Pay will debut in Korea early next year.

Apple Pay is set to debut in Korea early next year, eight years after its launch in the United States. Hyundai Card has signed an exclusive contract with Apple Inc. to introduce the mobile payment service in early 2023.

As the introduction of Apple Pay to Korea has begun its countdown, Samsung Pay and other simple payment services in Korea are preparing to respond to the emergence of a strong competitor.

Industry insiders believe that Apple Pay will have a limited impact on the existing mobile payment services, which include Samsung Pay offered by Samsung Electronics, Naver Pay operated by Naver Corp., and KakaoPay provided by Kakao Corp.

In addition to Apply Pay, another new mobile payment service is expected to debut this month, further heating up competition in the market. It is Open Pay, which allows users to pay using different credit cards with one app.

Industry watchers say that Apple Pay is expected to end the dominance of Samsung Pay. Until now, Samsung Pay has been regarded as a strength for users of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy phones, but its attractiveness will decrease when Apple Pay is introduced.

Nevertheless, Samsung Pay is still a high barrier for Apple Pay. Samsung Electronics accounted for over 80 percent of the Korean smartphone market in the third quarter of this year, while Apple only accounted for 10 percent. Samsung Pay also controls over 80 percent of the Korean simple payment market.


 

Copyright © BusinessKorea. Prohibited from unauthorized reproduction and redistribution