Kakao Pay said last year's payment amount grew 11 times compared with 2018. Kakao Pay plans to expand its business by building an artificial intelligence (AI) payment infrastructure that does not require human intervention.
On the 12th, Payment Group Head Oh Seung-jun of Kakao Pay told reporters that monthly active payment users have surpassed 20 million and that the company has built the nation's largest payment ecosystem, with Kakao Pay accepted at more than 95% of the top 100 online and offline brands. Oh said the company will expand the payment ecosystem around the Kakao Pay platform and maximize user benefits through "Agentic AI" payments and data-driven hyper-personalization.
Offline Payment Clan Head Kim Sang-ok of Kakao Pay said the company will maintain its No. 1 position in Korea's offline payment market by offering user benefits. Kakao Pay currently has more than 650,000 offline merchants and, through partnerships with Samsung Pay and Zero Pay, access to more than 3 million payment locations.
Kim said the company will pursue an "Alliance" strategy by partnering with leading POS companies such as OKPOS and value-added network (VAN) providers. Through this, the plan is to secure 10 million users by next year and rank in the top 4, including card companies. Kim added that the number of affiliated merchants will reach 1 million by supporting efficient marketing tools and customer acquisition.
Online Payment Clan Head An Dae-seong of Kakao Pay said the company will build a "Zero Friction" payment environment this year that does not require human intervention by using AI. Kakao Pay is advancing its in-house AI service "Find my own benefits with AI" into offerings such as "Spending report," while deepening integration with the Kakao AI agent ecosystem. In "ChatGPT for Kakao," the company provides services to view payment, money transfer, and points histories.
An said, "Kakao Pay will evolve from Korea's first simple payment into the next generation of payments and establish itself as the 'best payment in Korea,'" adding, "We will more closely connect everyday life and build a payment ecosystem that benefits everyone."