At Starbucks, "Today I'll 'Dael', with Apple Pay"

Apple Pay is expected to become available at Starbucks as well.

According to industry sources on the 27th, Starbucks Korea has decided to introduce Apple Pay, a service that supports online and offline payments using Apple’s wireless communication devices such as the iPhone or Apple Watch instead of physical cards, starting from the 9th of next month. This is the second case of Apple Pay adoption among Shinsegae Group affiliates, following Emart24.

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Apple Pay has been available in Korea since the 21st of last month, and currently only Hyundai Card can be registered.

Apple Pay has recently introduced payment services at offline franchise stores of a total of 32 brands including GS25, CU, McDonald’s, and Daiso. It can also be used on 16 applications and websites such as Baedal Minjok and Musinsa.

[Photo by Yonhap News]

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With the expansion of Apple Pay, changes are also being detected across the entire simple payment ecosystem.

As the number of Apple Pay usage locations gradually increases, Samsung Electronics is reported to have communicated to card companies its plan to switch Samsung Pay to a paid service.

According to related industry sources, Samsung Electronics proposed a method of charging a 0.15% fee, the same rate that Apple Pay currently charges, but applying a differentiated rate depending on the number of payment transactions.

Card companies are distressed as the news of Samsung Pay’s fee imposition comes amid poor performance due to recent interest rate hikes.

When Apple Pay was first introduced in Korea, the Financial Services Commission stated, "Credit card companies should not pass on costs such as fees related to Apple Pay to customers or merchants." This is expected to apply similarly to the transition to paid Samsung Pay.

However, despite this burden, the possibility of card companies terminating partnerships is low. This is because a sudden increase in simple payment service users recently means that stopping service partnerships would likely lead to customer attrition.

Therefore, card companies are expected to reduce consumer benefits such as interest-free installment offers or discount limits to alleviate the burden.

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