Naver Certificate Marks 20 Million Downloads, Gaining Attention from MZ Generation

Naver is rapidly increasing its user base by capturing the MZ generation (born between the 1980s and 2000s) in its certificate business, a lifestyle-oriented service. Recently, Naver has been targeting the MZ generation and preparing new growth engines through various services such as the metaverse platform ‘Zepeto’.

According to Naver on the 26th, the number of subscribers to ‘Naver Certificate’ exceeded 20 million as of this month, following 10 million in May. Compared to one year ago when there were 1.7 million subscribers, it has grown by 1,076%. More than half of the certificate subscribers are in their 20s and 30s. This is the result of Naver targeting the mobile-savvy MZ generation through partnerships with universities. Currently, Naver Certificate is applied to Yonsei University’s portal, and Kyung Hee Cyber University, Sejong Cyber University, and Korea Cyber University use Naver Certificate for lecture attendance and exam applications.

The ‘Certification Ecosystem’ built by Naver using the certificate has also gained popularity among job seekers. In January, Naver launched the industry’s first mobile national technical certificate service using Naver Certificate. It provides services for a total of 552 types of national and private certificates from organizations such as the Human Resources Development Service of Korea and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Qualification information obtained from various institutions can be checked at once on Naver, and submission of qualifications is possible without paper documents. Naver has collaborated with job portals such as Saramin, JobKorea, and JinHakSa to create a resume linkage service.

Building on this growth, Naver plans to expand its business into various fields such as public and financial sectors. From mid-next month, Naver Certificate will be available for use at the National Health Insurance Service and Seoul City Internet Payment System (ETEX). According to the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA), the ‘Electronic Notification Service’ using certificates is a large market expected to grow from the current 93.9 billion KRW to 2.1 trillion KRW by 2023.

Naver is especially targeting the year-end tax settlement service this year and aggressively expanding its partnerships. Last year, Kakao, the three major telecom companies’ PASS, KB Kookmin Bank, and NHN Payco were selected as final pilot operators for public sector electronic signatures, but Naver was not included on the list. Han Seong-sook, CEO of Naver, said, "We will increase the number of electronic signature certification partners to 200 by the end of the year and provide the foundation for more than 40 MyData operators."