Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
Apple Pay may be available at Starbucks by May
An iPhone user makes a payment using Apple Pay at a convenience store in Seoul, March 21. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
By Lee Kyung-min
Starbucks customers in Korea will be able to use Apple Pay, a contactless mobile payment service provided by global tech titan Apple, as soon as May, according to market watchers, Sunday.
Behind the belated follow-up is Shinsegae, the operator of Starbucks Korea and other retailers, shopping malls and consumer businesses, including E-mart, Shinsegae Department Store and Starfield. The Shinsegae-mediated SSG Pay, according to the local conglomerate, will not benefit from the coffee chain not providing Apple Pay service. Instead, the longer the delay, the more frustrated consumers will become ― a development the coffee chain would not want for their loyal customers.
According to financial circles, the Korean branch of the global coffee chain is fine-tuning the specifics to operate the near-field communication (NFC) system with the help of its payment gateway service provider partner. A payment gateway is a merchant service provided by an e-commerce application service provider that authorizes credit card or direct payment processing for e-businesses, online retailers, bricks and clicks or traditional brick-and-mortar businesses.
The payment gateway service provider maintains that Apple Pay can be put into place immediately since the software to process the transaction approval requests is centralized with the necessary NFC firmware update completed.
The launch of Apple Pay in Korea last month drew much expectations about enhanced convenience for iPhone users, but the much-hyped features were not as fascinating because the service was not available without NFC devices.
A Starbucks official refused to pinpoint the timeline for Apple Pay availability. “Nothing has been decided,” the official said. “We are monitoring and reviewing the issue before introducing it to our customers for a satisfactory outcome.”
Apple Pay drew 2 million new customers within just weeks of its launch here on March 21, driven by many young consumers willing to switch from Samsung Pay, a similar system provided by the Galaxy series made by Samsung Electronics.