[Online Community]
A photograph which claimed to be of a working Apple Pay showing South Korea's transportation payment card, operated by the national railway service, was uploaded online suggesting the launch of the American tech giant's digital wallet service in South Korea is imminent.
"Apple Pay, South Korean transportation payment card". A user "OO" wrote in a post with a set of images onto an online community DCinside Monday. The post drew scores of internet users' attention but the uploader did not answer any questions and deleted the post a few minutes later.
There had been rumors that Apple will start servicing its digital wallet platform in South Korea for many years but the tech giant let the fans down last month when it announced additional countries which would have Apple Pay serviced by leaving South Korea out.
[Online Community]
Although some experts speculate that the digital wallet service will soon be serviced in South Korea as Apple is preparing to open its first official Apple Store in South Korea at the end of the year, some are skeptical, saying the digital wallet market in South Korea is already saturated, dominated by strong contenders such as Samsung and web service giant Kakao.
"Apple may think South Korea's mobile payment market is not attractive," a South Korean bank analyst told Aju News on condition of anonymity, pointing to a small population of iPhone users which take up about 25 percent of the smartphone market.
"Government regulations and organized movements by local banking services to hinder the entry of new rivals are seen as an obstacle Apple must overcome before launching its service," the analyst added.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
