Digital payments infrastructure provider, PPRO , has recently announced it extended its infrastructure to the South Korean market, integrating onto its platform local cards and Toss Pay , a popular e-wallet. The addition of local card acquiring, as well as the integration with Toss Pay wallet allows global payment service providers and their merchants to access new business opportunities in South Korean, a traditionally enclosed market.

Toss is one of the most popular financial service platforms in South Korea and is operated by Viva Republica, reaching around a third of the country’s total population (24 million users). At the same time, Toss Pay is a renowned e-wallet service for card or account purchases and allows users to make instant payments at any partner of the merchant, without an additional registration or sign-up process. A highly digitalised market Recent research conducted by JPMorgan shows that consumers in the country have a strong appetite for online goods, with an estimated of 95% young South Koreans having purchased online goods or services in 2022.

The country is also set to become an important global ecommerce leader, with a market expansion of over 13% compound growth rate (CAGR) by 2024. Moreover, digital payments have almost entirely replaced cash transactions in South Korea, with cards making up to 66% of usage with digital wallets, according to PPRO. By integrating with local cards and Toss Pay, PPRO aims to scale its business in the region, helping both consumers and their tier 1 preferred merchants who are currently struggling with poor conversion rates and still relying on traditional global rails.

Empowering small merchants and SMEs PPRO also aims to reach more local SMEs and small merchants who are looking to scale their businesses and offer an easy, frictionless, and secure way to make payments both online and in-store, while attracting more international customers. Its in-house built architecture allows for instant access upon launch of new local digital payments, markets, and other orchestrated services that will help PPRO’s partners to boost their businesses and create new opportunities. Given South Koreans’ appetite for cross-border shopping, merchants partnering with PPRO will benefit from an extended potential client base, while also accelerating local digitalisation and the transit towards a cashless economy.

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