Naver upgrades digital wallet service targeting offline stores

By Kim Joo-heon Posted : August 10, 2021, 14:16 Updated : August 10, 2021, 14:16

[Courtesy of Naver]

SEOUL -- Naver Financial, Naver's digital wallet wing, will allow customers to make payments with their digital wallets at about 100,000 offline stores. The new service will popularize Naver's online-centered payment service in offline environments.

Through Naver Pay, Naver's digital wallet service, users can conveniently make payments at selected online stores. Users only need to register their credit card or account information once. The service provides generous rewards, about 2.5 percent of the purchase price as membership points that can be used like cash.

Naver Financial said in a statement on August 9 that the company will expand its digital wallet service out to some 100,000 offline stores. Previously, Naver Pay was only available through selected online shopping mall platforms including Smart Store, South Korea's top shopping mall operated by Naver. Some convenience stores accepted Naver's digital payment system that used QR codes, square-shaped barcodes, for offline payments.   

"We gathered all functions so that the online experience of using Naver Pay can be expanded out to offline," said Choi Jin-woo, the vice president of Naver Financial. 

Naver Pay launched in 2016 garnered popularity among online shoppers through an all-in-one purchase management service that helped customers keep track of their payment records and parcel deliveries. The new offline payment service will help customers find nearby affiliated stores that offer more discounts. Naver Pay has over 14 million monthly active users as of June 2021 while its rival Kakao Pay has about 20 million.  The amount paid through Naver Pay in the first half of 2021 amounts to about 17.7 trillion won ($15.4 billion). 
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