Apple Pay to start pilot rollout in South Korea

Apple Pay will begin a limited pilot rollout in South Korea this week, initially for online payments and with offline payments to follow, according to advertisements seen in the capital Seoul and reported by local media outlets.

Apple Pay logo

The news comes as South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) also revealed that it has been reviewing terms and conditions for the launch of Apple Pay in the country following an application for review by Hyundai Card, which will be supporting the service at launch.

“IT professionals are predicting that Apple Pay will become available in stores and franchises where NFC technology has already been made available,” Korea JoongAng Daily reports.

“This includes franchises such as Starbucks, Costco, convenience stores, such as GS25 and CU, and large marts, such as E-Mart. Starbucks in particular is being given attention as it is the franchise most likely to welcome a large number of Apple Pay users, with younger people, including early adopters of new technologies, prone to frequenting Starbucks and memes spreading the concept of a MacBook as a Starbucks Pass.

Ediya Coffee, a domestic coffee chain, is also seen as a candidate for Apple Pay users to visit, as the company announced earlier this month that its payment systems and kiosks will switch to adapt to NFC technology.

Lotte Hi-Mart, Apple’s official reseller, is also expected to support Apple Pay after its launch. Lotte Hi-Mart could not give an official statement, but ‘Apple Pay Only’ signs were seen in several Lotte Hi-Mart stores around Seoul on Tuesday.”

The FSS has not yet made an official statement but said last week that it was planning to reply to Hyundai Card “soon” and that “the appropriate notification of service may be sooner than expected”, according to Korean financial news outlet Yonhap Infomax.

Apple Pay went live in Malaysia and Qatar in August and in Kuwait in October.

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