After several months of delays, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service has given the go-ahead for local credit card companies to start accepting Apple Pay.
In November 2022, several social media posts surfaced of Apple Pay being used with a Hyundai Card, indicating that the service would debut in South Korea in the same month. The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), however, halted the launch because it had to review the terms and conditions of the service before it could launch.
South Korea’s FSS approves the launch of Apple Pay in the region
As reported by The Korea Herald, the FSS is finished reviewing the service’s terms and conditions. Therefore, Apple can finally launch it in South Korea.
“Having taken into consideration relevant rules and regulations and their interpretations, we confirm that credit card companies can push for the introduction of the Apple Pay service as they have obeyed necessary procedures,” the Financial Services Commission said in a statement.
The FSS notes that the personal information of consumers must be protected by credit card companies.
The FSC emphasized that credit card firms should not transfer fees arising from the use of Apple Pay to customers or shops, while calling for measures to ensure customer protection from such risks as the theft of personal information.
The regulator also expressed optimism that the launch of Apple’s payment service will increase user convenience and support the future development of additional payment systems based on NFC technology.
One of the biggest reasons why Apple Pay took a little longer to be launched in South Korea is not just the dominance of Samsung phones, but also the lack of infrastructure for NFC that the service requires.
The launch of Apple Pay is expected to strengthen competition in the local mobile payment market, currently dominated by Samsung Electronics’ Samsung Pay, based on the magnetic secure transmission technology.
It is expected that the service will be supported by Hyundai Card as the sole service provider at launch. As of right now, it is unclear if the service will exclusively be supported by Hyundai Card or if Apple will launch other compatible cards in the region as well.
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