Apple faces challenges in introducing Apple Pay in Korea after failing to “coordinate different opinions” over transaction fees with local credit card companies, including Shinhan Card, Hyundai Card and KB Card... More
South Korea
Samsung Pay enters beta testing
Korean credit card firm Samsung Card is recruiting beta testers for Samsung Pay to pilot the mobile payments service in “various major offline member stores” from July 15 to August 20, Korea Bizwire reports... More
Koreans claim Apple Pay talks
Apple has reportedly held meetings with Korean financial institutions, including Hana Financial Group, as it looks to launch Apple Pay in the country... More
Naver Pay launches in Korea
Korean internet portal Naver has launched its mobile payments platform Naver Pay following an unveiling in March... More
LG G5 could launch with iris scanner
LG’s next flagship smartphone, the LG G5, will reportedly come equipped with an iris scanner and recognition technology developed by Korea-based biometrics provider Irience... More
Brainwave biometrics to arrive in three years
Consumers could be able to authenticate themselves using brain wave and heart beat bio-signals from as soon as February 2018... More
Naver Pay to go live in June
Korean internet portal Naver is to introduce a mobile payments platform from June that will let users verify themselves using fingerprint recognition and make payments using their Naver ID, a password, the mobile number of the recipient and either a credit or debit card... More
No Samsung Pay fees for Korean issuers
No fees will be charged by Samsung to card issuers making use of its new Samsung Pay service in Korea, Business Korea reports, “to help dominate the rapidly-growing mobile payments market”... More
Korea shifts to NFC authentication for mobile banking
Korean financial institutions are to offer streamlined NFC authentication for mobile banking transactions starting from as soon as the first half of 2015, according to local media reports... More
Fime gets NFC Forum analog testing qualification
NFC testing specialist Fime has announced that its labs in Asia, EMEA and Korea have been qualified to perform NFC Forum analog certification testing More
Korean banks partner with messaging giant for mobile banking service
Korean internet and messaging giant Daum Kakao has launched BankWalletKakao, a mobile wallet service provided in partnership with 16 Korean banks and Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearing Institute (KFTC)... More
SK Planet to roll out Bluetooth beacons to 10,000 stores across Korea
SK Planet has launched a new Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) service in Korea that offers customers reward points and benefits directly on their mobile device whenever they enter a participating retail location. The BLE beacon-based solution is expected to be installed in more than 10,000 stores by next month. More
Samsung to offer money transfers
Samsung will launch a mobile money transfer service in Korea at the end of this year in partnership with mobile payment service provider Yelopay and six banks, Korea Bizwire reports... More
Apple Pay to launch in Korea?
Apple is eyeing up the possibility of launching Apple Pay in Korea, Korea Bizwire reports... More
Korea’s SK Planet buys US BLE offers platform Shopkick
Mobile offers platform Shopkick, which is working with a number of high profile US retailers to roll out a network of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons, has been acquired by SK Planet (SKP), operator of Korea’s largest shopper rewards program and part of the same group as carrier SK Telecom... More
KakaoTalk to add payments
Korean mobile messaging service Kakao is to launch a new payment solution in September, in collaboration with nine credit card firms, that will let its 100 million KakaoTalk customers make payments using only their password... More
Starbucks now processes six million mobile payments a week
Coffee chain giant Starbucks now has 12 million active users of its mobile app in the US and Canada alone... More
Korean banks accelerate mobile wallet plans
Korea’s banks are making a renewed push on mobile payments in the face of increasing competition from outside the financial services sector, Korea Bizwire reports, citing Hana Bank’s ‘Hana N Wallet’, Industrial Bank of Korea’s ‘IBK One Money’, and Shinhan Bank’s ‘Zoo Money’ and ‘My Shinhan Pay’ services... More
CrucialTec to secure mobile banking with fingerprints
Korean mobile input technology specialist CrucialTec is developing a fingerprint authentication solution that will replace passwords when consumers access mobile banking services on their smartphones, Korea Herald reports... More
Starbucks Korea lets customers place orders with their mobile phone, more countries to follow
Starbucks customers in South Korea have become the first to be able to place their order at the coffee shop chain using their mobile phone... More