Foreign Tourists Also Use 'OO Pay'... Financial Services Commission Designates It as Innovative Finance

Foreigners visiting Korea will soon be able to use prepaid electronic payment methods like so-called 'OO Money' by charging them in Korean won without a domestic bank account and converting the remaining balance back into foreign currency upon departure.

On the 15th, the Financial Services Commission held a regular meeting and newly designated the 'Easy Use and Refund Service of Prepaid Electronic Payment Methods for Foreign Visitors to Korea,' applied for by the overseas remittance fintech company Hanpass, as an innovative financial service. This service allows foreign visitors without a domestic account to charge prepaid electronic payment methods denominated in Korean won using foreign prepaid funds and convert any remaining prepaid balance into foreign currency-denominated prepaid electronic payment methods when returning home.

However, the charging of Korean won prepaid funds through prepaid electronic payment methods issued overseas is limited to foreign tourists up to a limit of 1 million won. The exchange of the remaining prepaid balance into foreign currency-denominated prepaid funds upon departure is only permitted within the balance at the time of departure.

A Financial Services Commission official expressed expectations that "this will make it easier and faster for foreign visitors to Korea to charge and refund funds for domestic travel remotely, reducing the burden and risk of carrying foreign currency when entering and leaving the country, thereby significantly enhancing the convenience for foreign tourists."

Additionally, the Financial Services Commission designated more financial companies to operate innovative financial services based on generative artificial intelligence (AI) at the end of last month. This time, software as a service (SaaS) provided in external cloud environments can also be used within internal business networks. As a result, 44 services from 42 companies (including duplicates) were newly designated as innovative financial services.

For 13 companies that were previously allowed to use cloud-based SaaS on internal business terminals, the existing innovative financial services were amended to allow usage on mobile devices as well.