The FSC revealed last week that Apple Pay meets regulations and could come to South Korea if the US-based company decides to compete in this market. And today, Hyundai Card and Apple confirmed that the mobile payment solution is on its way.
The two companies have reportedly worked together for the past few months to set the stage for the arrival of Apple Pay in South Korea. Hyundai Card released a statement today, saying that the company is looking forward to “collaborating with Apple to introduce Apple Pay to South Korea.”
Apple also made a statement on the matter, confirming that the company is looking forward to “bringing Apple Pay to [South] Korea.” Neither company revealed a release date, but Hyundai Card said they will share more details “in the coming months” (via Nikkei). Market watchers suspected that Apple Pay could be coming to South Korea in mid-H2 2023.
Samsung Pay will soon face more competition
Samsung's own mobile payment platform is the third-largest in South Korea behind Kakao Pay and Naver Pay. So far, the company didn't face any competition from Apple Pay because South Korea lacked the necessary NFC (Near Field Communication) infrastructure to support the platform. But Samsung Pay will soon have another competitor to worry about.
Apple Pay will also compete for mobile payment market share with companies including Toss, PayCo, Smile Pay, Rocket Pay, SSG Pay, SK Pay, L Pay, and Zero Pay. There are plenty of players in South Korea, but with iPhones owning around 30% smartphone market share in Korea, Apple Pay seems to have a strong foundation for a decent start.
Samsung has a larger smartphone market share of around 63% in South Korea, and the brand-new Galaxy S23 series unveiled at Unpacked 2023 may help it gain more ground in both the smartphone and mobile payment markets.
