South Korea’s score of 39.7 on

the MasterCard Mobile Payments

Readiness Index demonstrates the

importance of partnerships and

consumer readiness for mobile

payments adoption. Consumers are

willing and are currently using mobile

phones for both P2P payments and

m-commerce. South Korea performs well

in the financial services and regulatory

realms. It could enhance its performance

in areas like ease of doing business and

improving efficiencies in the legal system

that, if strengthened, could accelerate

mainstream adoption of mobile

payments.

Market Forces

SUMMARY

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

Mobile Payments Readiness Index

mobilereadiness.mastercard.com/southkorea

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Consumers use m-commerce (18%) and P2P (14%) more often than POS payments (6%)

Partnerships with regional mobile payments players like NTT docomo are good for long-term viability

South Korea needs to improve the ease of doing business and financial services affordability

Mobile Commerce Clusters Consumer Readiness

Financial Services

Regulation

Environment

Infrastructure

39.7

The partnerships being developed

among South Korean banks and

mobile network operators suggest

that the country is committed to

mobile payments’ long-term growth.

Partnerships also include regional players,

such as NTT docomo in Japan, focused on

fostering cross-border mobile payments.

To supplement an eager consumer base

and growing partnerships, South Korea

needs to invest in some other areas that

will accelerate the adoption of mobile

payments.

SOUTH KOREA

AFFORDABILITY OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

0% 20% 40% 60%

Index Average

South Korea

Country Score Index Average

Leading Country ScoreIndex AverageCountry Score

P2P POS m-commFAMILIAR

WILLINGP2P POS m-comm P2P POS m-comm

USING

0%

25%

50%

75%

100%

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON CONSUMER SENTIMENT IN SOUTH KOREA

18%16%

21%20%

14%8%

18%9%

6%5%

11%10%

21%19%

28%21%

17%16%

To view this data in more detail, visit mobilereadiness.mastercard.com/southkorea

Mobile Payments Readiness Index

mobilereadiness.mastercard.com/southkorea

View Data Sources at mobilereadiness.mastercard.com/about

Consumers in South Korea have

shown themselves to be users

of mobile payments in both P2P

payments and m-commerce.

Currently, point-of-sale payments are

used less, but that may change as the

partnerships among South Korean

banks and telecommunications firms,

and partners abroad, start to take root.

Consumers in South Korea are

more willing to use mobile phones

at the point of sale than they are

familiar with the capability. This

suggests that with some marketing and

consumer education efforts, and the

improvements to the user experience

that new technology brings, consumers

could expand from m-commerce and

P2P into POS payments as well.

Improving regulatory factors like ease of

doing business and efficiency of dispute

resolution via the legal system could

further encourage investment in the

sector. Efforts to make financial services

more affordable and competitive could

lay the foundation for better coordination

between banks and other members of the

mobile payments ecosystem.

Consumer Sentiment

MASTERCARD CONCLUSION

South Korea’s consumers are

currently using mobile payments

mainly to send money to each other

and for m-commerce. The existing

structures for mobile payments can

be upgraded by improving the legal

system’s dispute resolution capabilities

and by making financial services more

affordable. These advances could

allow for increased adoption of mobile

payments at the point of sale. Closing

some of these gaps can strengthen

South Korea’s burgeoning partnership

efforts to build mobile payments at

scale, and put the country on firm

footing for the future.

SOUTH KOREA

INDEX AVG 33.2

39.7