KakaoTalk goes into the mobile payment business with KakaoPay

KakaoTalk today launches a mobile payment service called KakaoPay. As the name suggests, it allows users of the messaging app to pay using their KakaoTalk account for certain products they buy online.

The team expects KakaoPay to support debit and credit cards from most major South Korean financial institutions. Users can register and use up to 20 different non-corporate debit and credit cards inside the KakaoPay account.

Users can find KakaoPay in the updated KakaoTalk app, under the settings tab. It’s currently available for Android devices in South Korea only, where over 93 percent of people are a KakaoTalk user. The update for iOS arrives in October.

South Koreans can now start using KakaoPay to make online purchases in KakaoTalk’s mobile marketplace to buy vouchers in the in-app Gift Shop. The company is planning to extend KakaoPay’s service by working together with home shopping channels, ecommerce sites, and offline channels.

See: KakaoTalk reveals it has 140 million users, made $203 million in revenue last yearKakaoTalk hopes that KakaoPay will take off due to its simplicity. Unlike other mobile payment services which require users to do multiple verification systems like SMS and authentication certificates, subsequent payments via KakaoPay only requires a user-set password (after a scheduled update). That makes life easier for shoppers, but some might question the safety of the single-verification step – especially after this week’s controversy over the relatively simple iCloud ‘hacks’ that resulted in the theft of nude images taken privately by celebrities.

KakaoTalk is working with global IT service provider LG CNS for this new epayment system, with the latter providing the back-end payment gateway for KakaoPay. The duo say that KakaoPay boasts “the highest level of security among mobile payment services.” And because its security level is comparable to public key certificates, KakaoPay can process payments beyond the usual US$291 limit without such certifications by the end of this year.

KakaoTalk is battling Line, WeChat, WhatsApp, and many other messaging apps in South Korea and some other markets across Asia.