Danal(064260) said on the 5th that the Tencent-affiliated service "WeChat Pay offline quick response (QR) payment" transaction amount hit a record high in the first half of this year, up 62.7% from a year earlier as more Chinese visitors traveled to Korea.
With WeChat Pay offline QR payments, Chinese tourists visiting Korea can pay at major Danal merchants using the same app they use at home. Danal said the rise in the transaction amount was driven by an increase in Chinese tourists and their greater use of convenience stores in Korea.
Danal is diversifying its partner stores for WeChat Pay offline QR payments. Recently, it signed numerous franchise agreements with "unmanned arcade" stores, which have become popular mainly among younger generations. The company plans to expand payment acceptance into various sectors such as shopping, transportation, and medical/wellness to broadly support foreign tourists' everyday experiences in Korea.
It also introduced a new physical card service for foreign tourists. The foreigner-only prepaid card "K.ONDA," launched last month, installed dedicated kiosks in must-visit commercial districts for foreigners such as Gangnam, Myeong-dong, Euljiro, Seongsu, and Hongdae. In particular, it integrates core functions needed by foreign visitors to Korea, including online shopping, delivery app orders, transit card use, and ATM withdrawals.
Tuition payment performance for foreign students at Korean universities, offered together with Shinhan Bank(Shinhan Financial Group(055550)), also increased. Year-over-year transaction growth rates were 81.5% for WeChat QR and 133.2% for PayPal. In particular, for WeChat QR, which is mainly used by Chinese students, the growth rate rose much more than the 47.3% recorded in 2025.