Samsung Pay and Kakao Pay Integrate Easy Payment Ahead of Apple Pay Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Su-yeon] As the launch of 'Apple Pay' service in Korea approaches, Samsung Pay and Kakao Pay are pushing for integration of their payment services.

On the 12th, Samsung Electronics and Kakao Pay are in discussions to interlink their simple payment services.

The plan is to enable online payments using Samsung Pay within the Kakao Pay application (app), and to allow offline payments using the Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) method.

Earlier last month, Samsung Electronics signed a business agreement with Naver Financial, which operates Naver Pay, to promote mobile payment experiences.

Industry insiders interpret that with the imminent launch of Apple Pay service in Korea, expected in the latter half of this month, Samsung Electronics is teaming up with the country's top two simple payment providers, Naver Pay and Kakao Pay, to counter Apple Pay. For Naver Pay and Kakao Pay, there is also the advantage of expanding offline touchpoints through Samsung Pay merchants.