Seoul: Naver Pay, operated by Korean portal giant Naver Corp., has emerged as South Korea's most widely used mobile payment platform, primarily due to its reward and promotional benefits, recent industry data revealed.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a report by market researcher Open Survey highlighted that 64.7 percent of consumers who utilized mobile payment services in the past month preferred Naver Pay, marking it as the leading platform. This was followed closely by Kakao Pay at 49.8 percent and Toss Pay at 31.1 percent. Respondents indicated that reward points and discount benefits were the primary reasons for opting for Naver Pay over its competitors.
In the mobile money transfer segment, Kakao Pay stood as the most favored platform, capturing a 45.2 percent share. Toss Pay followed with 32.6 percent, significantly ahead of Naver Pay's 22.3 percent. The survey found that nearly 40 percent of users selected Kakao Pay because it was the recipient's preferred payment service, highlighting the critical role of network effects in peer-to-peer money transfers.