Kakao, Naver, and Toss Pay in China doubled in just five months

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Paul Lee] Kakao, Naver, and Toss Pay in China doubled in just five months

(Photo = Yonhap news)

With the Chinese government and private companies actively seeking to improve the convenience of foreigners' payments there, South Korea's payments in China using Kakao, Naver and Tospay nearly doubled in five months, a report showed.

Alibaba-based fintech company Ant Group held a ceremony to "launch a plan to jointly build inbound consumer-friendly commercial districts" at SOLANA, a large commercial facility in Chaoyang-gu, Beijing, on the 8th, and said, "As of March, the amount of payments made by Kakao, Naver and Toss Pay in China through Alipay Plus has doubled compared to October last year." However, specific payment trends and future prospects were not disclosed.

Alipay Plus, introduced by Ant Group in 2020, is a global payment network that connects cross-border simple payment companies. Currently, it connects more than 88 million franchises in 57 countries and regions with 1.5 billion consumer accounts to help consumers travel and pay. Currently, there are 11 global platforms that can be used directly in China.

In Korea, Kakao, Naver, and Tospay have formed a partnership to support payments in major Chinese cities with existing apps used in Korea. In addition, the Ant Group has joined hands with Alipay HK (Hong Kong), Changi Pay (Singapore), Hipay (Mongolia), Mpay (Macau), OCBC Digital (Singapore), Touch & Go Wallet (Malaysia), and True Money (Thailand), which have unveiled their cooperation on the same day.

It plans to improve the convenience of payment in major cities in China by expanding electronic payments and partnerships with credit card companies such as Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Diners Club International. It connects the international payment card that you use to the Alipay app and uses it for shopping, dining, hotel payments and taxi calls.

According to the Ant Group, as of March, foreign tourists who used international payment cards linked to the Alipay app were from about 200 countries and regions. In particular, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Japan, Thailand, Germany, Australia, Britain and Indonesia are considered the top 10 countries.