Apple Pay is reportedly launching in South Korea this week starting November 30. Several advertisements were seen in the country promoting the services that will be supported through Hyundai Card, a Hyundai Motor Group-owned credit card. However, no time (even date) was confirmed on when will it be launched in the country.
CUPERTINO, CA - MARCH 25: Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, speaks during an Apple product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park on March 25, 2019 in Cupertino, California. Apple announced the launch of it's new video streaming service, unveiled a premium subscription tier to its News app, and announced it would release its own credit card, called Apple Card.
Michael Short/Getty Images
(Photo : Michael Short/Getty Images) CUPERTINO, CA - MARCH 25: Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay, speaks during an Apple product launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park on March 25, 2019 in Cupertino, California. Apple announced the launch of it's new video streaming service, unveiled a premium subscription tier to its News app, and announced it would release its own credit card, called Apple Card.
Apple Pay in Korea
An advertisement was seen circulating in different establishments in South Korea, which indicates that the services will be launching soon.
Based on a report from 9To5Mac, Korean users will now be able to use the services of Apply Pay starting November 30, as a part of the annual expansion of the company to different countries. @Tommyboiiiiii tweeted a picture of a taxi ad that indicates the date of the launch, the logo of the e-wallet, and the logo of the Hyundai Credit Card.
No confirmations yet from Apple and Hyundai if this advertisement is true and if it will be exclusively available with the card. For this launch, online payments will be the only option for now while offline payments will become available at the end of December.
According to a Korean publication Korea JoongAng Daily, both parties (Apple and Hyundai) have already entered into an agreement of using the services at a number of chains and large stores.
Professionals in the IT industry assume that Apple Pay will become available first in stores and franchises that support NFC technology, which includes Starbucks, Costco, GS25 and CU convenience stores, and E-Mart.
Compared to Samsung Pay's magnetic secure transmission (MST), Apple Pay will be using near-field communication (NFC) for payments, which is only 5% of domestic distribution on mobile phones.
Aside from the taxi advertisement, the Financial Supervisory Service also confirmed to the public that they have been reviewing the launch of Apple Pay submitted by Hyundai Car.
TechCrunch reported that Apple is already in the final stage of the agreement with Hyundai Card for it to be available in South Korea. Previous reports say that Hyundai will have exclusivity for a year with other financial services following in late 2023.
Despite several reports from different publications, both parties have declined to comment and respond regarding this matter.
In September, Apple altered its terms of service in the country. Apple Insider reported that the updated version adds Apple Pay as one of the options that users can utilize to make payments to cards stored in their wallets. If this pushes through, South Korea will be the eleventh country in the Asia Pacific that supports Apple Pay.
