[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] As Apple's contactless payment service 'Apple Pay' is about to launch in South Korea, Samsung Pay and Naver Pay, considered the strongest competitors in the domestic market, have joined forces to expand the simple payment ecosystem.
Samsung Electronics, the operator of Samsung Pay, and Naver Financial, the operator of Naver Pay, signed a business agreement on the 20th at Naver 1784 Building in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, to activate mobile payment experiences.
The two companies will start collaborating in the payment and wallet sectors and continue to cooperate for a more convenient digital life for users.
Through this collaboration, Samsung Pay and Naver Pay users will enjoy an enhanced online payment experience. First, Samsung Pay users will be able to use simple payments via Samsung Pay at a total of 550,000 online merchants in South Korea, including 'Naver Smart Store' and 'Naver Pay online order-type merchants.'
Naver Pay users will be able to use Naver Pay's offline payment through Samsung Pay's MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) payment method at all offline merchants nationwide where Samsung Pay is accepted.
The two companies plan to quickly proceed with cooperation so that each service can be implemented within the first half of this year. They also plan to continuously explore various cooperation methods to provide users with a better digital life.
Han Jini, Vice President and Head of the Digital Wallet Team at Samsung Electronics MX Division, said, "Through collaboration with Naver Pay, Samsung Pay users can now enjoy convenient mobile payment experiences not only offline but also online," adding, "We will expand the mobile payment ecosystem and provide better user experiences through cooperation between the two companies."
Many view this cooperation between the two companies as a move to counter Apple Pay. Earlier, Hyundai Card officially announced the domestic launch of Apple's contactless payment Apple Pay on the 8th. The domestic service is likely to start as early as the beginning of next month.
Apple Pay is the world's number one simple payment service with over 200 million users globally, but it has been cautious about introducing the service in South Korea, where native payment services such as Samsung Pay, Naver Pay, and Kakao Pay are established. With Apple Pay's announcement of its domestic entry, there are forecasts that 'Galaxy' users may switch to 'iPhone.'
An industry insider said, "This collaboration is a case where Samsung's interests to block the expansion of Naver, which urgently needs to expand offline payment infrastructure, and Apple Pay coincide," adding, "Although domestic native payment services are still solid, if Apple Pay overcomes competitors' checks and the domestic NFC infrastructure, the market landscape could also change."
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