Apple Pay's S.Korea debut as early as third week in March

Apple Pay, the mobile payment service by iPhone maker, is set to launch in as early as two weeks in South Korea, home to the world’s largest smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co.

Apple Inc.’s South Korean unit and Hyundai Card Co., the country’s first partner for the payment service, tentatively confirmed a plan to introduce it between March 20 and March 27, according to industry sources on Monday.

“They are preparing for the debut with an aim to launch in the third week of this month,” said a payment industry source said.

Apple is likely to update iOS, its mobile operating system, soon to enable users to register credit cards issued in South Korea in the wallet app for the contactless simple payment service, a source at the local telecommunication industry said. “The iOS update will allow Apple Pay service in South Korea.”

The US tech giant has been preparing for Apple Pay’s launch in South Korea where Samsung provides its own mobile payment and digital wallet service since Apple obtained approval from the Financial Services Commission (FSC) on Feb 3.

HYUNDAI CARD ONLY FOR NOW

The service will be available only with Hyundai Card for the time being as the credit card issuer, the top shareholder of which is Hyundai Motor Co., has priority as the country's first contractor with Apple despite it not being an exclusive deal.

Major department stores, convenience stores, fast food restaurants and other credit card affiliates across the country reportedly have near-field communication (NFC) devices for Apple Pay supported on iPhones, Apple Watches, iPads, and Mac computers. Hyundai Card has been accelerating the installation of NFC devices to card member stores since the FSC’s approval.

Samsung and the country’s online giant Naver Corp. plan to launch a simple payment service that links their services by the end of this month to counter Apple Pay.

Last month, the two companies joined hands to allow Samsung Pay’s users to make online payments on Naver and Naver Pay’s customers to make offline payments for credit card transactions using Galaxy smartphones.

Write to Nan-Sae Bin at binthere@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.