Increase in Samsung Pay and Kakao Pay Usage... Simple Payments Up 56.6% YoY

'2019 Electronic Payment Service Usage Status'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] As online shopping has increased, the use of simple payment services surged last year.

According to the "2019 Electronic Payment Service Usage Status" announced by the Bank of Korea on the 24th, the number of simple payment service transactions averaged 6 million per day, a 56.6% increase from the previous year (3.8 million). The transaction amount also rose from 121.2 billion KRW to 174.5 billion KRW. Simple payment services refer to services such as Samsung Pay, Kakao Pay, and Toss, where cards are stored on mobile devices and payments or transfers can be conveniently made by entering a password.

A Bank of Korea official analyzed, "The increase is due to more people using simple payment services like Samsung Pay not only online but also offline," and added, "E-commerce companies such as Coupang and eBay Korea expanded their simple payment service systems, which increased usage."

Last year, the average daily number of simple remittance service transactions was 2.49 million, a 76.7% increase compared to the previous year. This was largely influenced by the increased service offerings from financial institutions.

As online shopping users increased, electronic payment gateway (PG) services also gained popularity. The number of transactions and transaction amounts for electronic payment gateway services increased by 39.3% and 26.2%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

This was due to the increase in card-based services as online shopping amounts grew by more than 18.3% compared to 2018.

Additionally, the 'prepaid electronic payment service,' which allows payments or transfers using prepaid funds, is also seeing an increase in simple remittance users. The usage performance of prepaid electronic payment services has increased annually: 15 million transactions in 2017, 16.3 million in 2018, and 18.9 million in 2019. Last year, usage increased by 15.8%, and transaction amounts surged by 108.9%. Remittance services using Toss and Kakao Pay saw significant growth.

Meanwhile, the usage and transaction amounts of escrow payment services increased by 15.6% and 12.9%, respectively. The growth trend continues mainly among online sales brokerage companies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.