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The nation's mobile payment service providers are expanding their presence in the Asian market. These firms said they will also seek entry to the European and North American markets once they secure their foothold in Asia.
Of domestic mobile payment firms, SSG Pay has been the most active player boosting its presence in overseas markets. The firm is the mobile payment service unit of retailer giant Shinsegae Group.
The group has partnered with Hana Financial Group to strengthen the Global Loyalty Network (GLN) digital platform, a blockchain-based technology that enables customers to make digital transactions regardless of their location via the decentralized system.
Utilizing the GLN platform, Shinsegae said it will roll out SSG Pay at local stores in seven major Asian countries, including Japan, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan, in December.
Thanks to the platform, SSG Pay customers can buy products at its affiliate stores in these countries without cash, after linking the mobile payment service with their bank account.
"SSG Pay has secured more than 3 billion affiliate stores in Taiwan and Thailand," said a Shinsegae official. "We are in talks with our counterparts in other Asian countries to launch the service."
Other mobile payment firms are also seeking to make inroads into overseas markets.
The nation's largest portal Naver introduced the Naver Pay in Japan June. Naver Pay users can buy products at any local NPay or LinePay affiliate stores there by using the QR code.
It has secured about 1.6 million local affiliate stores in Japan. Convenience store chain Lawson and Haneda International Airport are part of their affiliate partners.
Payco and KakaoPay will also start their mobile payment service this month in Japan and plan to do the same in China and ASEAN countries by the end of this year.
Payco partnered with Japanese supermarket, duty free and convenience store chains to allow its customers to use its QR code there.
KakaoPay recently signed a partnership with China's largest payment service provider Alipay to introduce a business model in the Asian market.
According to the Bank of Korea, the daily transaction via mobile payment services stood at 126 billion won ($107.5 million) on average in Korea last year, up 58.3 billion won, or 86.2 percent, from the previous year.
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