Starbucks Korea Added Apple Pay as Payment Option in its Stores

Starbucks Korea has jumped on the bandwagon and joined the growing list of major brands in South Korea that added Apple Pay as one of their payment options for goods or services. The leading coffee chain is now accepting Apple’s mobile payment service in its stores across the country.

Starbucks Korea activated Apple Pay on Tuesday this week, and this offers Korean customers more ways to pay for their purchases. The coffee chain has become the second brand being operated by the Shinsegae Group to add the said mobile payment service. The first company was E-mart24 which is the Korean retail conglomerate’s convenience brand.

In March, Apple Pay was launched in South Korea in cooperation with Hyundai Card Co., a local credit card company that is operating as a subsidiary of the local automaker, Hyundai Motor Group.

The rollout has been anticipated by the Koreans for months so it is no wonder that users of Hyundai Card reportedly shot up after the introduction of Apple Pay in the region.

Based on the data shared by Hyundai’s credit card division, the number of cards it has issued since the arrival of Apple’s mobile payment service increased by 156% year-on-year. The new Hyundai Cards that were obtained by the consumers reached a total of 355,000 units, where 118,000 are debit cards, and 237,000 are credit cards.

Most of the new cardholders are people in their 30s and 40s. The company added that 90% of the newly-issued cards were registered for Apple Pay.

In any case, with the availability of Apple Pay at Starbucks Korea outlets, The Korea Times quoted Hyundai Card and Hyundai Commercial chief executive officer, Chung Tae Young, as saying, “Ninety-six percent of Starbucks cafes, except for the 40 located inside department stores and outlet stores, are now available for Apple Pay service.”

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