Samsung Electronics, Naver collaborate on simple payment service

Samsung Electronics Co. is collaborating with Naver Financial to create a simple payment service that lets Samsung Pay users pay Naver’s 550,000 online merchants.

The two firms have signed a business agreement to begin their collaboration in digital payments and wallets.

Naver Pay, accepted in a few offline stores, may now be used with a Galaxy smartphone to make credit card purchases, just like Samsung Pay.

Despite having 31.5 million customers, Naver Pay is difficult to use for offline transactions. The software can only be used at 100,000 offline locations and only with a quick response (QR) or barcode, despite the fact that 550,000 online retailers on the web site Naver accept it.

In addition, both businesses are looking towards a solution that enables direct payments using a Galaxy smartphone without using the Naver Pay app.

This is the first time that Samsung Pay has collaborated with a financial institution other than Samsung Card, a subsidiary of the Samsung Group.

Samsung Electronics is making a concerted effort to keep up its leadership in the local payments sector.

Apple Pay's forthcoming entry in South Korea prompted domestic online and offline simple payment services to join forces.

Though it is the most popular simple payment service in the world, with over 200 million users, Apple Pay has not been available in South Korea, where Samsung Pay has operated for 10 years.