Era of mobile settlement already approaches in Korea
October 5, 2013 Leave a comment
Era of mobile settlement already approaches
Lee Deok-ju, Won Yo-han
2013.10.04 17:29:55
A Korean office worker in his 30s only named as his initial ‘K’ always touches his smartphone on the ticket turnstile instead of inserting a subway ticket into the device. His smartphone has a mobile T-money payment system of transport fares. The near field communication (NFC)-enabled smartphone works the same as the plastic payment card.
In his way to start the company, he decided to read a comic using his smartphone. When he chose his favorite comic book from an electronic shelf of Yes 24 and settled his deal on a simple payment method provided by KG Inisys. This is part of mobile settlement that is being shaped to cover all types of commerce with separate payment for each deal possible. According to the nation’s five major credit card companies on Friday, a total of 3.3 million mobile cards have so far been issued. Nearly 90 billion won ($84.1 million) worth of transactions were settled through these mobile cards in September alone. It represents just 0.21% of 43.4 trillion won settled monthly through all credit and check cards in Korea last year, but it’s a significant rise compared to 2010 when 55,000 mobile cards were issued with 1 billion won of transactions were settled. Attention is being paid to growth potential of mobile cards, as they have become part of our everyday life. “Telecom service providers, portals and even social network service firms have tapped into local payment gateway markets and the future business outlook is bright because mobile commerce users are increasing sharply,” said Kim Min-seok, head of SK C&C Mobile Business.
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