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| Paymint CEO Kim Young-hwan shares his vision in an interview at his office in Seoul, Dec. 26. Courtesy of Paymint |
By Lee Min-hyung
Paymint CEO Kim Young-hwan is convinced the "era of cardless payment" is looming closer, in line with the global payment paradigm shift.
For now, the Seoul-based startup generates most of its revenue by developing payment systems used for large companies in Korea. The company has so far designed and operated mobile payment platforms for major firms such as Kakao, Shinsegae and Hyundai.
But the CEO of the emerging fintech player expressed his ambition for global success by developing new platforms that can satisfy foreign customers.
"Korean customers rely heavily on credit card payments," he said in an interview Dec. 26. "Even if the country has an advanced level of financial technology infrastructure, most people still stick to the traditional card-driven payment."
But this is not the case for other countries, particularly ones in Asia with huge population and growth potential, according to Kim.
"QR code-based digital payment dominates the Chinese market," he said. "Other Asian nations, such as Japan and India, are also rapidly embracing QR code payment, as it is convenient to use and its security has already been proven in many different markets."
The 48-year-old startup founder said tens of millions of foreign tourists who visit Korea still have a difficult time in making payments due to the card-driven payment ecosystem here.
"Some foreign credit cards are not accepted in the local market," he said. "Chinese tourists make up a great portion of the total foreign tourists, but most of them cannot pay by using QR codes here due to the weak infrastructure."
Kim plans to develop a quality QR code-driven payment platform for them and expand its ecosystem here.
"After the local success, it will be easier for us to tap into the overseas market where we hope to show off our diverse payment platforms and seek more business opportunities there."
Kim is a serial entrepreneur having so far founded four companies in the area of mobile authentication.
He studied public administration with the focus on regulations. He said understating regulatory policies is crucial for success in the fintech industry.
"The fintech area is all about regulations," he said. "One of my core tasks is to keep contacting government officials from finance regulators, and persuade them to ease some areas of regulations. No one can survive in the industry without such processes."
Kim established Paymint in 2014 with three other co-founders. But as he jumped on the mobile payment industry for more than a decade before founding the firm, Paymint was able to make rapid progresses in recent years.
"Our vision is simple: developing quality payment services in Korea and proving them in the global market," he said.
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