Merchants in South Korea can now opt to accept Apple Pay payments on their smartphone without needing to purchase and install NFC readers at the point of sale as a number of new or upgraded software POS solutions roll out across the country.

Apple Pay went live in South Korea in March with support for debit and credit cards issued by Hyundai Card, but many small and medium-sized businesses are not yet able to accept in-store payments made using the service because they lack the necessary NFC-enabled hardware, according to local media reports.

Korean softPOS payments acceptance app FREEPay has already added support for Apple Pay transactions, with other service providers including UDID expected to launch softPOS apps that support Apple Pay in the near future, Korean business news outlet Pulse reports.

“The key to the expansion of Apple Pay was NFC terminals, which were considered crucial for the spread of Apple Pay in Korea and to allow iPhone users access to contactless payment service. Apps, however, are being developed by local companies that allow store owners to replace NFC terminals with their mobile phones,” Pulse says.

As few as one in ten credit card-accepting stores in the country are currently equipped with the physical NFC infrastructure needed to accept payments made using Apple Pay, according to the Korea Times.

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