Simple Payment Services Available Overseas

Kookmin Bank’s simple payment service “Liiv Bank Pay” will be available in Japan starting next month.

Kookmin Bank’s simple payment service “Liiv Bank Pay” will be available in Japan starting next month. This is the first overseas simple payment service launched by a Korean commercial bank. Other banks are also expanding their simple payment services to global markets following Naver Pay and Kakao Pay.

Kookmin Bank has revised the terms of service of its “Liiv Bank Pay” simple payment service to make overseas payment service available starting Oct. 30. The name of the simple payment service will be changed from “Liiv Bank Pay” to “Liiv Pay” from the end of this month. A bank official said, “We are currently preparing for the overseas payment service in cooperation with Danal Co. The service will be available in Japan starting next month.”

In June, Naver also allowed users to make a payment at offline stores in Japan through Naver Pay. It launched its Cross-Border Mobile Payment Service in Japan for the first time. With the service, users who have agreed to use the QR payment service can pay at offline stores in Japan with the NPay or LinePay logo by swiping a Naver Pay QR code with mobile devices. There are no additional exchange fees or card fees.

Kakao Pay has also started test operation of its payment service in Japan in July. It currently test operates its overseas payment service in Daimaru department store in Fukuoka, which has a high rate of Korean visits, and all stores on the international terminal in Fukuoka Airport. It is planning to expand the service across the country in the future.

Hana Financial Group is operating its mobile payment service “Global Loyalty Network (GLN).” The platform is an overseas payment service that enables users to wire money and make a payment through mobile devices with ease regardless of borders. Starting with Taiwan and Thailand this year, the group is expanding its service areas to major regions in Asia. It is now seeking to enter into partnership with a total of 58 companies in 14 countries around the world. When users make a payment using the GLN service, exchange rates by country are automatically applied in real time and there is no need to go through an additional process of exchange.

Financial companies are expanding such overseas payment services because the number of Korean tourists is on the increase. An official from a financial firm said, “Since it is convenient to use domestic simple payment systems at overseas stores without exchanging money, the number of cases supporting this will increase.” However, most of the service areas are Japan so the number of usages cannot rise at a rapid pace as it is hard to extensively promote the services given the current tense relationship between the two countries. An industry insider said, “When the service area is expanded to Southeast Asia in the future, financial firms are expected to compete for a bigger share of the overseas simple payment market.”

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