Open banking pilot goes live in Korea
A new open banking system which is set to cut transaction fees by 90% has now entered pilot testing, Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) has announced... More
South Korea
eMarketer identifies top countries for mobile payments adoption
China remains the country with by far the highest mobile payments adoption rate, with 81.1% of smartphone owners making use of the technology, eMarketer reports... More
Shinhan pilots face recognition payments in Korea
Korea’s Shinhan Card has begun testing Shinhan Face Pay, a face recognition payments system that it is developing with CU convenience stores operator BGF Retail “to identify customers who visit unmanned convenience stores in the future”... More
Visa sets out payments innovation plans for Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
Visa sets sights on a ‘Cashless Japan’ with one year to go to the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 — Visa — “At the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Visa offered a payment-enabled ring to its Team Visa athletes. At the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Visa commercially sold wearable products, such as gloves and lapel pins, enabled to make payments over contactless payment readers. For Tokyo 2020, Visa is exploring payment innovations ranging from biometric payment authentication and wearables to new mobile applications which will include digitally-issued cards.”
LG Pay goes live in the US with NFC and mag stripe mobile payments
LG has launched its LG Pay mobile payments service in the US, enabling owners of its G8 ThinQ smartphone to make payments via NFC in stores equipped with a contactless POS terminal — and in stores with a magnetic stripe terminal using Wireless Magnetic Communication (WMC)... More
Shinhan to put credit cards on the blockchain
Shinhan Card develops blockchain-based payment system — The Korea Times — “With the patent-winning technology, the card firm has established a blockchain-powered credit transaction process that enables various functions, such as setting a maximum spending limit, paying in monthly installments and completing payments between merchants and consumers… The company is the first in the world to have established a credit transaction service using the new record-keeping technology, it said.”
Samsung partners with Korean banks and carriers to launch blockchain mobile ID platform
Consortium launches blockchain-based digital ID in S Korea — Yonhap News — “A group of major tech companies and financial institutions have joined hands to launch a blockchain-based digital identity platform available on smartphones… Samsung Electronics Co, three mobile carriers — SK Telecom Co, KT Corp and LG Uplus Corp — KEB Hana Bank, Woori Bank and Koscom, an IT subsidiary of the main stock exchange, signed an agreement to jointly develop a mobile application for the digital ID platform.”
Samsung launches TV which uses NFC to mirror vertical content of a phone
Samsung has unveiled a vertical TV which works as a standard TV in horizontal mode but as a mirror of a user’s phone when in vertical mode, thanks to NFC functionality... More
Eight in ten consumers now use mobile payments in South Korea
Convenience and not having to carry physical cash or cards are the two primary reasons behind the mass adoption of mobile payments in South Korea, where a new poll has found that 79.1% of consumers have used a mobile payments service at least once in the past six months... More
Samsung Pay adds support for low-cost international remittances
Samsung Pay starts overseas remittance service in 17 countries — Pulse — “Samsung Pay users can now wire money [internationally] through their mobile phones and save in fees compared to sending money overseas via a conventional remittance route… The beta service will be available in 17 countries including the United States, China, and Japan. The company plans to gradually expand the service to other countries as well as add more partners.”
Korean retailer pilots unmanned convenience store that uses face recognition for entry and payments
GS25 brings facial recognition to new shop — Korea JoongAng Daily — “Most convenience stores without a human cashier use barcodes to identify the products. GS25’s new system instead identifies an item by its packaging and weight. This allows customers to simply place items on the table before paying using facial recognition or a credit card. The company says it takes only about a second for the system to recognize five items at once, whereas with the conventional barcode system it would take 15 seconds to scan them one by one.”
LG to pilot blockchain carrier billing system for international mobile payments in stores
LG U+ to offer blockchain-based overseas payment service — The Korea Herald — “Once the service is launched, LG U+ subscribers will be able to buy things at selected retailers using their mobile phones when they travel to Taiwan and Japan. Far EasTone subscribers will also be able to enjoy the same convenience when traveling to Korea and Japan. The service uses direct carrier billing, enabling transactions to be billed and paid through their carrier in their home currency.”
Samsung Pay adds funds trading service in Korea
Samsung Pay begins funds trading service — Yonhap News — “Fund Online Korea Co said Tuesday it launched services for the trading of investment funds via Samsung Pay, the country’s top mobile payment tool. The service allowed users to shop for a variety of funds at the Samsung Pay platform after a simple process of opening accounts, according to the firm. ‘We are aiming at offering an easy, convenient and accessible investment channel,’ said company official Kim Seung-hyun.”
Korea’s central bank to build bank account-based mobile payments settlement system
Central bank to develop settlement service to expand mobile cash card payment — Yonhap News — “The South Korean central bank said Tuesday that it will adopt a new mobile cash card settlement service starting next year in a bid to expand simplified mobile payments in the country. A council on financial information by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and local banks decided to develop technological standards and a mobile application for the new service that enables sellers to receive money directly from the buyer’s bank account.”
Seoul moves forward with plans for its own S-Pay payments system
Seoul to launch its own mobile payment platform: Report — ZDNet — “The municipal government has formed a task force that will work to launch the service, tentatively called S-Pay, which aims to improve payment convenience for citizens and small businesses. The task force will aim to build the system for the platform and cooperate with banks as well as find partnered small businesses… The aim is to lessen commissions paid by businesses when they use credit cards. S-Pay’s system won’t go through credit card companies’ systems.”
Samsung pulls support for Samsung Pay from budget smartphones?
Samsung stops loading mobile payment tool on budget phones — Yonhap News — “Samsung Electronics Co recently stopped embedding its mobile payment system, Samsung Pay, in budget smartphones, industry watchers said Sunday, apparently to save costs by excluding the feature, which has been less popular among teens and senior users… ‘As it costs roughly 5,000 won (US$4.50) per device to apply Samsung Pay, (the company) is apparently seeking to cut production costs by excluding the feature,’ an industry watcher said.”
Starbucks to roll out 100 cashless stores in Korea
Starbucks to increase number of cashless stores in Korea — Retail News Asia — “Starbucks Coffee Korea Co said Monday it will increase the number of cashless stores to over 100 across South Korea this month amid rising use of credit cards and mobile payment systems in the tech-savvy country… Starbucks said the decision is part of its broader digital innovation drive as cash payment has been constantly declining at stores in South Korea, from 31% of the total in 2010 to 15% in 2013 and 7% last year.”
Korea’s central bank ‘opposes’ the idea of a digital currency
BOK will not issue digital money — Korea Times — “The Bank of Korea (BOK), the country’s central bank, said Monday it opposes the idea of central bank digital currency (CBDC)… The bank is worrying over concerns that such a sudden launch of the CBDC will cost society a lot and cause a moral hazard. Also, issuing CBDC could destabilize the market order because digital currencies don’t currently constitute money.”
Korean credit card issuers to roll out biometric payments at convenience stores
Credit card companies to launch ‘finger vein’ payment system — The Korea Times — “Three major card companies — Shinhan, BC, and Hana Card — announced on Sunday that were developing a biometrics payment system that authorizes transactions by scanning fingertips… The companies said the payment method would be available at convenience store chains across the country in October.”
Korean banks to launch blockchain identity platform
Banks plan blockchain ID system — Korea JoongAng Daily — “According to the Korea Federation of Banks (KFB), which represents major commercial banks in Korea, ‘BankSign’, a blockchain-based identity verification program, will officially be launched in July… ‘While BankSign will start off by providing the service in the banking sector, we will work with the government and other public organizations to expand its usage,’ said the KFB spokesperson.”
• See NFCW's full list of trials, pilots, tests and live services around the world...
