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| A promotional image of Samsung Pay, a digital wallet service offered by Samsung Electronics, shows a digital airplane ticket on a smart phone. Korea Times file |
By Yi Whan-woo
Following the transition to a cashless society, an increasing number of Koreans are no longer using wallets because their smartphones are proving to be more convenient.
According to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK), Tuesday, consumers are increasingly using digital wallets to buy goods, with the average daily number of payments ticking up 13.4 percent from a year earlier, representing 26.28 million transactions in the first half this year.
The data also showed that the total payments using digital wallets amounted to 845 billion won ($635.3 million), up 16.9 percent over the cited period.
The growing preference for digital wallets comes as mobile payment methods are becoming a lucrative business in Korea's increasingly cashless society, with tech giants both domestic and abroad, such as Samsung Electronics, Naver Financial and Apple, capitalizing on their tech prowess to introduce mobile payment systems here.
Payment services provided by smartphone makers such as Samsung Pay, LG Pay and Apple Pay marked notable growth.
The average daily number of payments using services provided by smartphone manufacturers advanced 23 percent year-on-year to 8.12 million in the first six months of the year. The total amount of payments during the cited period went up 24.3 percent to 211.7 billion won. Apple Pay started its service in the country in March.
Meanwhile, a report showed that mobile payment service companies are charging higher transaction fee rates than credit card companies for restaurant transactions.
The report released by Korea Food Service Industry Research noted that the rates charged by mobile payment service companies were as much as three times higher than those of credit card companies.
However, more than eight out of 10 restaurant businesses have been using mobile payment systems without being aware of the higher rates.
Samsung and Naver teamed up in March to link their respective systems ― Samsung Pay and Naver Pay ― while Apple Pay became available in the same month.
In the first half of 2022, Samsung Pay was the most-used online mobile payment provider with a market share of 23.5 percent
Although a newcomer in Korea, Apple Pay has been the most used payment service globally, with Samsung Pay in the third spot.
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