Naver Certificate Surpasses 8 Million Cases... Counterattack on Kakao

166% Increase in 3 Months
Aggressive Expansion of Partnerships

KakaoTalk Wallet Surpasses 10 Million Users
Home Screen Revamp Enhances Accessibility

[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] As the status of the public certification has been abolished, fierce competition is underway in the IT industry for the throne of the ‘National Certificate,’ with Naver and Kakao showing remarkable growth. Naver and Kakao have begun rapidly dominating the certification market by leveraging their national recognition and accessibility.

The Counterattack of Naver Certificate

According to Naver on the 30th, the number of issued ‘Naver Certificates’ surpassed 8 million on that day. This represents a 166% increase in just three months since surpassing 3 million in January. In the past week alone, the number increased by 1 million. Although Naver entered the certification business later than Kakao, it is aggressively expanding partnerships to increase users. Currently, Naver Certificate has 111 partners, including the National Pension Service, Korea Expressway Corporation, Korea Legal Aid Corporation, and Cheongyak Home.

For the ‘Naver Electronic Document Service,’ which allows users to check notices or bills sent by government departments such as local taxes, the cumulative number of sent documents has exceeded 12.32 million. Users can view and pay bills all at once through the Naver app. A Naver official explained, "We are rapidly expanding the use of Naver Certificate in various fields, from public services to private services such as non-face-to-face (untact) mobile subscriptions."

Naver is particularly expanding its certification business in the education sector. Several universities, including Sejong Cyber University and Seoul Cyber University, allow students to use Naver Certificate for services requiring identity verification, such as course registration and lecture attendance. On the 9th, Naver signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Woori Bank for the ‘Smart Campus Construction Project.’ They plan to build a system that enables the use of student ID cards, access control, and tuition payment services.

Recently, Naver revamped its mobile app by adding the ‘Na.’ feature on the home screen to enhance accessibility to certificates and electronic documents. They expect the number of certificate issuances to increase further as user convenience improves.

Oh Kyung-soo, Naver’s Head of Certification Business, said, "Naver Certificate, which has established itself as a lifestyle-oriented service, is securing more usage in public services, private companies, and the education sector. We plan to increase partnerships to 200 this year. In daily life where non-face-to-face interactions have become the norm, we will provide various services beyond certificates, electronic documents, and qualifications to expand safe and sustainable experiences through certification."

‘KakaoTalk Wallet’ Also Rapidly Growing

Kakao’s certification service, ‘KakaoTalk Wallet,’ also surpassed 10 million users earlier this month. This achievement was made just three and a half months after its launch. Kakao, which entered the certification business early in 2017 through its subsidiary Kakao Pay, introduced ‘KakaoTalk Wallet’ last December, a service that allows users to store and manage certificates, IDs, and qualifications within KakaoTalk. With Kakao Certificate, users can access functions such as the National Tax Service Hometax, Government24 login, and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s People’s Petition. KakaoTalk Wallet recently revamped its home screen to improve convenience as well.

Kakao is rapidly expanding its influence centered on KakaoTalk, which has 45 million domestic users. Especially after Kakao was selected as a government business operator last year, KakaoTalk Wallet was enabled for use in the Hometax year-end tax settlement simplification service, leading to a sharp increase in users. Kakao also recently revamped the KakaoTalk Wallet home screen to enhance user accessibility. A Kakao official stated, "Requests from other government departments to adopt KakaoTalk Wallet are continuing," and added, "We will expand partnerships for Kakao Certificate to public institutions and general companies in the future."