Market Trends of South Korea Real Time Payments Industry
Digital Transformation coupled with High Smartphone Penetration is Expected to Drive the Market
- South Korea is among the countries with the highest penetration rate of smartphones. Additionaly, the proliferation of 3G and 4G enabled customers to have easy access to make payments on their mobile phones. Moreover, 5G network is gaining traction across region, which further propels the real-time payments market growth.
- Further, mobile payment providers such as Toss, KakaoPay, and N-Pay are also increasingly popular, resulting in more popularity of real-time payments in South Korea. According to PRPO, a fintech firm, the country is expected to become an e-commerce hub and is projected to register around 13% CAGR by 2024. In February 2023, cards in South Korea accounted for 66%, and digital wallets stood at 22%, according to PRPO.
- In addition, massive adoption of real-time payments among merchants, as well as increase in usage of smartphones and faster connectivity, has enabled retailers and customers to conduct real-time payments via their smartphones, propelling the growth of market.
- Rise in use of smartphones and surge in faster connectivity have enabled retailers and customers to receive and make real-time payments via their smartphones, which propels growth of the market.
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P2B Segment is Expected to Gain Significant Traction Supported by Rising E-commerce Transactions
- The e-commerce market witnessed significant growth due to the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea, leading to wider acceptance of online and cashless payments, such as digital wallets and real-time payments. The users found it suitable and easy to use instant payment methods during online shopping for immediacy and better checkout solutions offered by real-time payments.
- Furthermore, According to the National Brand Competitiveness Index of online shopping mall brands in South Korea in 2023, SSG.com's brand competitiveness index measured 81 out of 100, which in turn is creating a favorable outlook for the studied market's growth.
- Moreover, with booming e-commerce in South Korea, cross-border e-commerce is also exploding. Due to this, merchants and consumers demand is growing for fast, convenient payment processing and instant settlement payment solutions. Owing to this, many major players, such as EMQ, offer cross-border real-time payments to consumers and merchants in South Korea, further increasing the demand for P2B real-time payment transactions in the region.
- Further, in December 2023, Visa is expanding its Fintech Fast Track program beyond card issuance to connect members to Visa’s real-time1 money movement platform, Visa Direct and Supports multiple use cases, e.g. persontoperson payments and account transfers, business transactions and government payoffs for individuals or small businesses, and merchant settlements and refunds. In the forecast period, such factors are expected to increase P2B payments in real time.
