NHN Entertainment to work with KB Kookmin Card for FinTech

By Yoon Sung-won

NHN Entertainment said Thursday it has joined hands with KB Kookmin Card in the financial technology business.

The move comes as a part of NHN Entertainment’s effort to diversify its business portfolio away from its sluggish online game business.

“We expect new convenient payment services to be widely adopted by diverse industries such as e-commerce, game and cultural content,” said NHN Entertainment CEO Jung Woo-jin. “We believe KB Kookmin Card’s long-accumulated know-how in financial services and NHN Entertainment’s 15-year-long history in IT technology will create synergy in providing better user experiences.”

Jung and KB Kookmin Card CEO Kim Duk-soo signed an agreement to cooperate in the FinTech business at NHN Entertainment’s headquarters in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday.

FinTech is a combination of finance and technology, and refers to technologies that facilitate more convenient payment on mobile platforms.

Under the agreement, the two companies will launch convenient payment services for both online and offline environments; expand infrastructure to facilitate the mobile payment market based on near-field communication technology by securing more online and offline affiliate stores; and engage in global businesses based on FinTech services.

KB Kookmin Card said it will release convenient payment service for NHN Entertainment’s online games and roll out smart card products.

NHN Entertainment used to generate the majority of its income from web-based games. But the business has been hit hard by the government’s crackdown targeting its online gambling games and it suffered a deficit last year.

To break through the slump, NHN Entertainment has diversified its business from its online game-centered structure. The company launched a cloud-based mobile game analysis and marketing service named Toast Cloud last year.

It also said last month that it will invest almost 150 billion won, which it has gained from recapitalization, in marketing activities for the convenient payment business. The company’s acquisitions of a local e-commerce company Korea Cyber Payment, database security firm PNP Secure and a ticket reservation company Ticketlink last year are also in line with NHN Entertainment’s drive for the payment service business.