Apps allow Apple Pay more accessible in Korea without NFC terminal

[Photo by Park Hyung-ki]

Apple Pay is expected to reach Korean consumers faster with the increasing popularity of a phone-to-phone payment method, which allows vendors or sellers to install a payment app on their own mobile phones for iPhone users even without a near-field communication (NFC) terminal for Apple’s payment service.

The key to the expansion of Apple Pay was NFC terminals, which were considered crucial for the spread of Apple Pay in Korea and to allow iPhone users access to contactless payment service. Apps, however, are being developed by local companies that allow store owners to replace NFC terminals with their mobile phones.

According to sources on Friday, Smartro, a subsidiary of KT Corp., released a “Freepay” app for Apple Pay and has received a positive response from small business owners, with 140,000 downloads from Google Play Store as of the end of last month.

The app can solve the problem of terminal replacement costs and maintenance fees, which have been real challenges for the self-employed and small business owners who adopt Apple Pay, according to Smartro.

Vendors in areas with high concentrations of young and mobile populations, such as Gangnam and Hongdae, are actively using this app to prepare for Apple Pay demand, the company said.

PG-based e-finance company UDID Inc. also plans to launch a “Pay App” service later this month that will allow vendors to accept Apple Pay via their mobile phones. This phone-to-phone service is expected to resolve the shortage of NFC terminals that has been occurring since the launch of Apple Pay in Korea.

The number of merchants accepting Apple Pay payments through the company’s online shopping mall payment solution BlogPay is estimated to be 150,000.

The payment apps, in the meantime, are not exclusively developed for Apple Pay. FreePay supports various methods such as credit card, QR code payment, and Samsung Pay, while Pay App supports Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, Payco, and Smile Pay.