An image shows a registered Shinhan Card in Apple Pay app. [courtesy of Asamo]
A mysterious image showing a screenshot of working Apple Pay with Shinhan Card registered to it has been uploaded onto an iPhone related online community in South Korea. Shinhan Card is one of South Korea's major credit card companies and an affiliate of Shinhan Financial Group.
The image uploaded at the weekend was deleted later but it was enough to arouse suspicions that Apple's mobile payment and digital wallet service would be launched soon in South Korea.
Apple Pay has been used worldwide but it's not yet available in South Korea dominated by Samsung Pay, a mobile payment service launched by Samsung Electronics in August last year. Some three million people now use Samsung Pay.
Other local mobile payments such as Naver Pay and Kakao Pay are not a match for Samsung because they are only available in limited platforms such as public transport, online transactions, and some offline stores. More than 60 percent of South Korean smartphones come from Samsung while iPhone users stand at around 20 percent, according to official data.
If the uploaded image is real, South Korea's mobile payment market may see significant changes. Foreigners visiting South Korea would be the first to use Apple Pay. For some consumers, iPhones could become an attractive alternative when Samsung is reeling from trust issues due to its Galaxy Note 7 catching fire.
Aju News Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
