South Korea’s top web portal Naver is joining the crowd moving into mobile payments, announcing plans to launch Naver Pay in June.
The company, which owns Japan-based LINE, said the payment platform links a user’s Naver ID with his or her credit card or bank account, allowing users to avoid keying in a password.
It said it plans to further simplify transactions by introducing fingerprint-based verification, the Herald Tribune said.
It is partnering with five credit card firms and is in discussions with five major banks.
Naver first discussed introducing a mobile wallet in August through Band, its social networking service.
Its sister firm LINE introduced payment functionality to its messaging platform in December. LINE Pay is touted as a way for 70 million monthly active users to make “secure and convenient payments anytime, anywhere, straight through their smartphone”. Payment providers supported at launch are American Express, Diner’s Club, JCB, Master Card and Visa.
Rival Daum Kakao launched BankWalletKakao, a social network based mobile wallet service, in partnership with Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute (KFTC) and 16 local banks in November.
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