Apple Pay Launches in South Korea

[MacRumors]

After a years-long wait, Apple Pay today launched in South Korea, allowing those living in the country to use Apple's payment system to make contactless payments using the iPhone or Apple Watch.

Apple has been working to bring Apple Pay to South Korea since 2017, but Apple was unable to be registered as an electronic financial business operator because regulators were investigating whether Apple Pay violated local regulations and laws. Apple was finally approved by financial regulators back in February.

NFC terminal adoption was also low in retail stores in South Korea around when Apple Pay first launched, which continues to be an issue. There are more NFC terminals than there were six years ago, but The Korea Times suggests Apple Pay will face "significant challenges" in Korea due to the limited number of NFC terminals.

With Apple Pay, credit and debit cards from supported banks in South Korea can be added to the iPhone and Apple Watch to make purchases at stores that have contactless payment options. Apple Pay cards can also be used on iPhone, iPad, and Mac to make Apple Pay purchases on the web.

According to the Apple Pay website in South Korea, a number of stores are accepting Apple Pay including McDonald's, Shake Shack, Lotteria, Krispy Kreme, Gong Cha, Lotte, HomePlus, Hollys, and more.

At the current time, Apple Pay is limited to Hyundai Card users, which could see South Koreans interested in using the service picking up a Hyundai Card. No other card companies are participating in Apple Pay as of yet.

Article Link: Apple Pay Launches in South Korea

 

[sorgo †]

Nicely done. 👏

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I can't believe it took Apple 6 years to implement Apple Pay in South Korea. They didn't give up!

 

[Junipr]

First opening a store in Gangnam, now Apple Pay in Korea, you might say Apple is K-popping… I’ll see myself out now thanks

 

[antiprotest]

Apple was unable to be registered as an electronic financial business operator because regulators were investigating whether Apple Pay violated local regulations and laws. Apple was finally approved by financial regulators back in February.

If I was paranoid, which I am not, I would have thought that Samsung "lobbied" (bribed) the regulators to delay Apple Pay since it should not have taken that many years just to decide whether something like this violated local laws.

 

[nvmls]

First opening a store in Gangnam, now Apple Pay in Korea, you might say Apple is K-popping… I’ll see myself out now thanks

This way 🫴🏼

 

[zubikov]

I would argue that Apple Pay is Apple's most successful post-Jobs product rollout. The watch was excellent, but so were many others. Airpods/headphones are great, but so are many others. Same goes for services, smart speakers, etc.

But...so many well-capitalized companies have tried digital payments before, and have failed miserably after hemorrhaging cash on a large scale for a few years. Apple crushed it with cutting edge security, working with existing payments providers, making the whole experience seamless, etc. It's truly remarkable how hard everyone (incl Google and enormous finance Co's) have tried, and yet have failed to interest the customers, retailers, and issuers at the same time.

 

[macduke]

I can't believe it took Apple 6 years to implement Apple Pay in South Korea. They didn't give up!

I can't believe you still can't use Apple Pay in places like Walmart after all these years. There are still way too many smaller shops too that don't use it to be able to rely on only carrying my iPhone places.

 

[Junipr]

I can't believe you still can't use Apple Pay in places like Walmart after all these years

You do realize that’s entirely Walmart’s decision not to support Apple Pay, right?

 

[jent]

What is the status of contactless payments in this tech-forward society? Do most stores have QR-code scanning terminals or something? I was surprised to read that there aren't many NFC terminals in South Korea.

Also, in countries with newer NFC terminals but no Apple Pay, does Apple Pay still work when visiting from a country that does have Apple Pay? I remember in the earlier days of Apple Pay people would say something like "I went to country X where there is no Apple Pay but was able to pay with my American iPhone and U.S. credit card via Apple Pay," and I was always wondering if that was a fluke or expected to work that way.

 

[Kazgarth]

Interesting is the only card accepted is from the same company they partnered with for Apple Car (Hyundai).

 

[rpmurray]

If I was paranoid, which I am not, I would have thought that Samsung "lobbied" (bribed) the regulators to delay Apple Pay since it should not have taken that many years just to decide whether something like this violated local laws.

Now I'm wondering how Samsung Pay works in South Korea. Anyone got the deets?

 

[antiprotest]

If I was paranoid, which I am not, I would have thought that Samsung "lobbied" (bribed) the regulators to delay Apple Pay since it should not have taken that many years just to decide whether something like this violated local laws.

Now I'm wondering how Samsung Pay works in South Korea. Anyone got the deets?

Wow.

"The service was launched in South Korea on August 20, 2015, and in the United States on September 28 of the same year."

Samsung Pay - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[aespana]

What is the status of contactless payments in this tech-forward society? Do most stores have QR-code scanning terminals or something? I was surprised to read that there aren't many NFC terminals in South Korea.

Also, in countries with newer NFC terminals but no Apple Pay, does Apple Pay still work when visiting from a country that does have Apple Pay? I remember in the earlier days of Apple Pay people would say something like "I went to country X where there is no Apple Pay but was able to pay with my American iPhone and U.S. credit card via Apple Pay," and I was always wondering if that was a fluke or expected to work that way.

I think is more a bank side than a apple pay side. If your bank is allowing Apple pay, you will be able to add your debit/credit card to apple pay and use the services anywhere.

Remember that you need to complete a process to add a card on Apple pay and it means that you need to accept a contract, put a code send via SMS or bank app, etc. At least, that is the way to use apple pay here in Costa Rica

 

[JippaLippa]

Apple pay is so convenient.
It has been 2 years since I actually used my card to pay.
I remember when I used to live in Denmark, in 2016, lots of stores already adopted it, some even as the only cashless payment method.
Talk about early adoption! 🤣

 

[gomichaelgo]

Normally when I pay my Apple Credit Card balance, it automatically applies any Apple Cash I have toward the payment first. After recent beta updates, I noticed this was turned off and the Apple Cash wasn't applied. I had to navigate and find the option to turn it back on. I am thinking that the Apple Cash savings account thing is right around the corner if they are trying to have customers save the funds there to put in an account. That, or they just toggled it off in a beta update for some annoying reason lol

 

[Shanghaichica]

I thought contactless was quite common in Korea?

 

[coffeemilktea]

Born too late to explore the earth, born too early to explore the stars, born just in time to pay for jjajangmyeon and soju with my phone. Truly the best time to be alive.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Wow.

"The service was launched in South Korea on August 20, 2015, and in the United States on September 28 of the same year."

Samsung Pay - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yeah that’s why I’m confused. I would have thought with Samsung pay they would have contactless payments already.

 

[ELman]

Bring Apple Pay to North Korea. That will be a news headline.

 

[mystery hill]

Good to see Apple Pay expanding to more countries.

 

[ppetrovic]

What is the status of contactless payments in this tech-forward society? Do most stores have QR-code scanning terminals or something? I was surprised to read that there aren't many NFC terminals in South Korea.

Also, in countries with newer NFC terminals but no Apple Pay, does Apple Pay still work when visiting from a country that does have Apple Pay? I remember in the earlier days of Apple Pay people would say something like "I went to country X where there is no Apple Pay but was able to pay with my American iPhone and U.S. credit card via Apple Pay," and I was always wondering if that was a fluke or expected to work that way.

Not sure about the rest of the world, but over here in Europe, almost all countries have Apple Pay (with a few notable exceptions) and 99.9% of all POS terminals support contactless payments; unless your bank prohibits it - debit and credit cards you add into your Apple Wallet work abroad just fine by default, no matter the country of issue or base currency of your cards.

You just arrive at your destination and you still have all your money with you in your phone and your watch. I used to bring cash as a backup when going abroad, now I bring physical cards as a backup.

Progress.

 

[lartola]

I can't believe it took Apple 6 years to implement Apple Pay in South Korea. They didn't give up!

Actually it took almost 9 years, considering that apple pay first launched in the US in 2014.

 

[surfzen21]

If I was paranoid, which I am not, I would have thought that Samsung "lobbied" (bribed) the regulators to delay Apple Pay since it should not have taken that many years just to decide whether something like this violated local laws.

I'd absolutely believe it.

I've had clients with very small business on the wrong end of similar power plays by other small businesses. Major players and big businesses do it all the time.

 

[lartola]

Also, in countries with newer NFC terminals but no Apple Pay, does Apple Pay still work when visiting from a country that does have Apple Pay? I remember in the earlier days of Apple Pay people would say something like "I went to country X where there is no Apple Pay but was able to pay with my American iPhone and U.S. credit card via Apple Pay," and I was always wondering if that was a fluke or expected to work that way.

Yes, it does work anywhere there’s NFC and the card stored in wallet is accepted, regardless of whether apple pay has launched in that country or not. I can confirm because I used apple pay in Mexico for 5 years with a supported US card before it launched there in 2021. It’s expected behavior.