"Pay is the Trend" H1 Mobile Payments Average 939.2 Billion KRW per Day

Bank of Korea 'Hwangban-gi Jeonjajigeum Service Usage Status'
Average Daily Simple Payment Amount in Hwangban-gi 939.2 Billion Won

The amount of domestic simple payment usage in the first half of this year increased by 11% compared to the same period last year.

According to the "2024 First Half Electronic Payment Service Usage Status" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 23rd, the scale of simple payment (simple payment) service usage (daily average) in the first half of this year was 29.71 million cases and 939.2 billion KRW, increasing by 13% and 11% respectively compared to the previous year.

Simple payment refers to a method of payment or remittance using simple authentication methods such as passwords or biometric information (fingerprints, face, etc.).

By service providers, electronic financial companies such as KakaoPay and NaverPay accounted for the largest share (49.6%). The usage share of prepaid-based simple payment services by electronic financial companies steadily expanded from 31.2% in the first half of 2022 to 32.6% in the first half of 2023, and 33.7% in the first half of this year. This is because simple payment service providers expanded their affiliates, launched prepaid charge physical cards, and expanded offline usage through QR code-based payment promotions.

The share of mobile phone manufacturers such as Samsung Pay and Apple Pay slightly decreased from 26.0% in the second half of last year to 25.3%. The daily average number of simple payment uses and amount for mobile phone manufacturers in the first half of this year were 8.968 million cases and 237.35 billion KRW, increasing by 10.4% and 12.1% respectively compared to the previous year.

Meanwhile, the scale of prepaid electronic payment service usage (daily average) was 32.39 million cases and 1.152 trillion KRW, increasing by 12.7% and 19% respectively compared to the same period last year. This is because the usage scale of electronic financial companies continued to show a high growth rate centered on simple payment and simple remittance services, and the usage scale of financial companies also continued to increase thanks to the expansion of foreign currency exchange services such as travel check cards.

The usage scale of electronic payment gateway (PG) also increased. The daily average usage scale of electronic payment gateway in the first half of this year was 28.86 million cases and 1.3651 trillion KRW, increasing by 15% and 15.2% respectively compared to the previous year. This is due to the increase in credit card and account transfer payment gateways, and a significant increase in virtual account payment gateways. A Bank of Korea official explained, "Recently, as delivery agencies such as Bureung and Saenggakdaero have increased significantly, delivery and other service fees have increased mainly through virtual account payment gateways, and retail sales payments have also increased mainly among small-scale businesses."