[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] SettleBank is showing strong performance. It appears that expectations for Coupang to foster Rocket Fresh, Pay, and other services through large-scale fundraising have influenced the stock price.
At 10:37 AM on the 17th, SettleBank was trading at 37,200 KRW, up 12.56% from the previous day.
On this day, an economic newspaper reported that Coupang, which is pursuing a U.S. stock market listing, is raising funds amounting to 1 billion USD (approximately 1.1 trillion KRW) through an unsecured loan method, separate from its initial public offering (IPO).
Through the listing application (S-1) submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Coupang explained, "We plan to spend a significant amount on expanding product categories, marketing channels, and logistics center facilities to increase our customer base." Additionally, mentioning Rocket Fresh, Coupang Eats, and Coupang Pay, it stated, "We are always exploring new business plans to expand the scope of our offerings," suggesting the possibility of expanding into new business areas.
Coupang plans to expand Rocket Delivery areas such as dawn delivery by increasing logistics centers. Currently, it is investing over 1 trillion KRW to establish seven logistics centers. It also plans to obtain courier business qualifications and expand its business area with full-fledged 'fulfillment' services.
The strong lock-in effect can be cited as the background of Coupang's growth. The lock-in effect, which prevents user churn, is key to increasing market share. Coupang has been expanding 'Pay' benefits, affiliated stores, and service areas. The simple payment service allows payment by pre-registering payment information in the app and completing payment with fingerprint recognition or password input.
In February alone, Coupang filed 105 trademark applications related to Pay, including 'Coupang One-Touch,' 'Coupang One-Touch Pay,' and 'Rocket One-Touch Payment.' There is analysis that Coupang may expand its simple payment service 'Coupay' to be usable on online shopping malls other than Coupang.
SettleBank was launched based on virtual account intermediary services and has provided stable financial services for over 20 years. To respond to the rapidly changing fintech market and meet diverse customer needs, it offers integrated electronic financial services such as virtual account services, simple cash payment services, firm banking services, PG services, and local government specialized services. Having been verified for security, convenience, and efficiency, it provides payment services and platforms to large partners. It has supplied payment services and platforms to Coupang, as well as Kakao Pay, Naver Financial, eBay, and Baedal Minjok.
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