Danal Introduces Vietnam's ZaloPay for International Student Payments in Korea for the First Time... Also Discussing Stablecoin Integration

From the left, Jin Changyong, Head of Business Division at Danal; Zion Nguyen Tran Ba Khoi, CFO; and Jung Moonho, Head of Department at Shinhan Bank. Danal

Danal has become the first company in Korea to introduce Vietnam's leading payment method, ZaloPay, into its payment services, and is set to expand its foreigner payment and stablecoin-linked businesses.

On June 11, Danal announced that it had entered into a strategic partnership with Zion, a subsidiary of VNG Corporation, one of Vietnam's largest IT companies, and would add ZaloPay to its "foreigner tuition payment" service.

The foreigner tuition payment service, jointly operated by Danal and Shinhan Bank, allows international students to conveniently pay tuition fees without the need for currency exchange. ZaloPay, which will be added to the service in July, is linked to Zalo, Vietnam's national messenger app with approximately 77 million MAU, and is expected to be widely used by Vietnamese students in Korea. According to the Ministry of Education, among the 208,962 international students in Korea, Vietnamese nationals account for the second largest group after Chinese students, making up 26.8%. As a result, Danal's related revenue is expected to increase significantly.

Currently, Danal's foreigner tuition payment service supports global payment methods such as PayPal and WeChat Pay, and is used at 96 universities in Korea, mainly in the Seoul metropolitan area, due to increased administrative convenience such as payment collection. With the addition of ZaloPay, the service will be able to cover international students from North America, Europe, Asia, and virtually around the world, and is therefore expected to be actively adopted by universities nationwide in the future.

In addition, as the number of Vietnamese visitors to Korea is rapidly increasing, this partnership is expected to significantly contribute to the growth of Danal's foreigner business. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Korea in February recovered to 129.3% of pre-COVID-19 levels and increased by 37.3% compared to the previous year. Danal is preparing to launch QR and barcode payment services in areas frequently visited by Vietnamese tourists. With the number of Vietnamese residents in Korea reaching 300,000, Danal also plans to introduce familiar payment and remittance services for workers and other residents to secure a competitive edge in the market.

Furthermore, Danal and Zion have actively discussed applying stablecoins, which are increasingly preferred in the market. The two companies announced that they will continue to collaborate by linking Danal's stablecoin system not only to foreigner tuition payments but also to salary payments for Vietnamese workers residing in Korea, and even to local ZaloPay payments in Vietnam.

Jin Changyong, Head of Business Division at Danal, stated, "The introduction of ZaloPay will enhance the payment coverage and overall competitiveness of Danal's foreigner tuition payment service. We also plan to expand our collaboration with Zion by developing payment services that can be easily used by tourists and foreign workers in Korea, as well as by connecting our ongoing stablecoin payment business."

This partnership is also expected to have a positive impact on Danal's expansion into Southeast Asian markets, including Vietnam. Since COVID-19, Vietnam has seen rapid growth in electronic payment services such as e-wallets and QR codes. In the case of ZaloPay, the annual payment volume has been increasing by approximately 39% each year, as it provides electronic payment services across various sectors including remittances, online shopping, offline QR payments, and mobility reservations.