"Strengthening SMEs and O2O Services"...Alipay+ Expands Its Presence in Korea's Payment Ecosystem

[Financial News] "Among North Asia and North America, the Korean market is the fastest-growing payment market. In the future, we want to expand Online-to-Offline (O2O) services, allowing customers to order online and pick up offline."
Weixiao Jiang, Head of North Asia and North America at Alipay+, made these remarks at the Alipay+ press conference held at KB Woojoon Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on the 9th.
Alipay+ is a global payment network service that partners with local payment providers such as Kakao Pay, Naver Pay, and Toss in Korea. This enables both inbound travelers to Korea and outbound Korean travelers to enjoy a seamless payment experience. Alipay+ also helps domestic payment providers enter the global market through its network. Kakao Pay users can make contactless payments at over 150 million Mastercard merchants using Alipay+'s contactless payment solution. Currently, Alipay+ is working to expand its domestic business by partnering with Zero Pay, the small business payment system promoted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups in 2023. Through this, Alipay+ supports approximately 2 million merchants in Korea, focusing on small and medium-sized businesses.
As of the end of November, the number of QR code payment transactions and total payment volume processed via Alipay+ in Korea increased by 18% and 16%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The growth is attributed to the rising number of visitors to Korea who use digital payments through Alipay+'s partner payment providers and banking apps. The cities with the highest Alipay+ payment volumes in Korea are, in order: Seoul, Jeju Island, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and Busan.
In particular, the growth in public transportation payments stands out. The number of public transportation transactions via Alipay+ in Korea increased by 120% year-on-year, while the total payment amount rose by 23%. Alipay+ explained that this rapid growth was driven by partnerships with local buses and taxis.
Next year, Alipay+ plans to focus more on promotion rather than expanding the number of affiliated merchants. Weixiao Jiang stated, "Rather than increasing the number of merchants in the domestic market, we intend to maintain our current base of 2 million merchants and help them conduct business more actively." For small merchants, Alipay+ supports Zero Pay payments, but many are not fully aware of this, highlighting the need for increased publicity.
Alipay+ aims to increase the number of QR code payment transactions by more than 20% next year compared to this year. Weixiao Jiang emphasized, "We are making various efforts to serve overseas tourists in Korea," adding, "In particular, we will work to boost transaction volumes by leveraging the growth of the K-content market, including K-pop and K-beauty."
Finally, Alipay+ stressed its commitment to protecting personal information as a global payment provider. Weixiao Jiang noted, "Ant Group, which operates the payment network business, has obtained more than 10 licenses related to personal data protection," and added, "As online transactions become more prevalent, compliance with regulations is our top priority to address the growing risk of data breaches."
chord@fnnews.com Lee Hyun-jung Reporter