Apple Pay to Rival Samsung with Debut of Hyundai Card in South Korea

According to the reports, Apple Pay will soon be available in South Korea, posing a threat to Samsung Electronics' dominance of the country's mobile payments sector. On February 8, Hyundai Card, Apple's local partner, made the announcement and expressed excitement about working with the company to provide Apple Pay to the South Korean market. According to reports, Apple gave a similar statement and said that further information would be released in the coming months. The digital payments industry in South Korea is not very varied, with a small number of significant businesses controlling the market. With an annual growth rate of 5.19%, Statista predicts that the total transaction value in Korea's digital payments segment would increase to US$190.40 billion in 2023 and US$233.10 billion in total by 2027. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image credit- Gadgets Now[/caption] The South Korean mobile payment market is dominated by sizable non-bank technology firms like Kakao, Naver, Toss, and Samsung Electronics, which launched their services in 2014 and 2015. Kakao Pay and Naver Pay are currently the most well-liked services, and a major part of their success may be attributed to how simple it is to use them. Also read: North Korea plans to launch a test flight of its ‘spy satellite’ by 2023 According to the reports, credit card firms are free to launch their service in South Korea as long as they don't charge any fees to users or retailers. This is the first country where Apple Pay has been made available. According to the Korean financial authority, other international payment services may operate in the nation so long as they follow the rules. Foreign financial organizations and services have struggled to obtain access to South Korea's domestic market over the years due to severe competition with local players battling for a relatively small but significant market. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Image credit- Glamsham[/caption] The introduction of Apple Pay in South Korea may threaten the hegemony of Samsung Pay, the payment service offered by Samsung Electronics, the largest firm in the nation. The company's Galaxy devices are a major reason why Samsung Pay has an estimated 80% market share in the country's mobile payment sector, according to the most recent data. Given that South Korean iPhone owners will soon be able to use Apple Pay, it's probable that Samsung Pay could become less popular. According to AjuDaily, South Korea has registered over 54 million smartphones, with about 30 percent of those being iPhones. Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan are already countries where Apple Pay is accepted. The program is now available in South Korea, the eleventh nation or area in the Asia-Pacific.