South Korea(KRW)

Common payment methods for online shopping in South Korea include Samsung Pay, Kakao Pay, credit cards, and Toss.

Samsung Pay

Samsung Pay is an e-wallet launched by Samsung Group in 2015 and currently has nearly 20 million users in South Korea. Samsung Pay supports NFC (Near Field Communication) and MST (Magnetic Secure Transmission) phone and e-wallet payment services, allowing users to make offline payments using their phones.

Samsung Pay covers most countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East, and partners with top US banks and American Express, Discover, MasterCard, and Visa payment card networks.

Kakao Pay

Founded in September 2014, KakaoPay is an e-wallet under KakaoTalk, South Korea's largest social networking app. In 2017, it received a $200 million strategic investment from Ant Financial. In 2021, KakaoPay's annual transaction volume increased 48% year-on-year to 99 trillion won, or approximately $82 billion.

KakaoPay currently has over 42 million users, primarily providing payment services such as phone top-ups, online transfers, ATM withdrawals, and offline QR code scanning. KakaoPay is often called the "Alipay of Korea."

* Payment Features: Supports monthly debits, QR code payment, etc.

Credit Cards

Local credit cards are one of the most popular payment methods in South Korea, with an average of 2.28 credit cards per person, accounting for over 70% of all payment methods.

In 2022, the average South Korean used a credit card 137.5 times, far exceeding developed countries like France, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.

Payssion supports local credit cards from 19 major issuers, including Shinhan Bank, KB Bank, Samsung Bank, Nonghyup Bank, Kwangseo Bank, Woori Bank, and Kakao Bank.

* Payment Features: Installment payments supported, points earned

Toss

Toss is a very popular e-wallet in South Korea. It supports various domestic and international card companies, including VISA and MASTER. It also supports cards issued by nearly all Korean banks, potentially covering 98% of bank customers. Toss also aggregates various payment methods, including Toss Pay, Samsung Pay, SSG Pay, Payco, L.Pay, and LG Pay, for immediate access. Furthermore, Toss supports all domestic telecom companies, including SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+, making it very convenient for customers who have difficulty paying with credit cards or transferring money.

Currently, Toss has accumulated remittances of 177 trillion won, an average monthly transaction volume of 2.5 trillion won, over 90,000 franchise stores, and 69 million app downloads (as of September 2021). It is used by one-third of South Korea's population (51.32 million).