GLN International expands QR payment access for foreign tourists

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GLN International, a fintech subsidiary of Hana Bank, said Friday it is expanding its QR payment service for foreign tourists visiting Korea, adding 500,000 merchants through a partnership with Coocon, the operator of the city-backed Seoul Pay platform.

The tie-up brings GLN's domestic QR payment network to about 1.5 million merchants nationwide, extending coverage beyond major tourist areas in Seoul, Busan and Jeju Island to neighborhood shopping districts such as Myeong-dong and Seongsu-dong in Seoul.

QR payment lets users scan a merchant's code with their own banking or fintech app to pay directly, without needing a physical card or converting currency in advance.

GLN said tourists from Taiwan, which it already served, will be joined by visitors from the United States, Canada and Singapore, who can now pay using major banking or fintech apps from their home countries. The company plans to add Vietnam and Mongolia later this year.

"We hope this expansion will make traveling in Korea more convenient for the growing number of foreign tourists," GLN International CEO Lee Seok said, adding the company will keep offering innovative payment services to give both domestic and international customers the best possible experience.

GLN, spun off from Hana Bank in 2021, offers QR payment and cash withdrawal services in 15 countries across Asia, including Vietnam, China, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Japan and Indonesia, with access to more than 230 million QR merchants worldwide.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.