KakaoPay Ready For a Shot at the Top in Mobile Payments

The mobile payment market is positively thick with competitors these days, and it’s hard to pass more than a few days without seeing a new competitor with an eye on the market and plans to reach the top of the heap.

That makes for a very healthy business environment, with companies left to determine the best way to find a competitive advantage or get surpassed by the host of other firms eager to protect their slices of the market, as well as lay claim to new ones.

KakaoPay, meanwhile, was one newcomer that started out struggling, but has recently started to find its legs and take bigger strides in the field.

KakaoPay, according to reports, started out slow in the market, but has recently added a string of stores to its affiliate program, meaning that more stores throughout Korea will be bringing in KakaoPay support.

One recent move in particular gave KakaoPay plenty of extra life in the field, specifically, its newfound affiliation with Shinhan Card, which represents the largest credit card company in South Korea.

With Shinhan Card working with KakaoPay, the field opened up; all credit cards issued in the region can now work with KakaoPay, and that means a much broader field of users on hand. But that was just the most recent move. Back in November, KakaoPay brought out an update to the KakaoTalk app on iOS devices, which allowed iPhone users access to the KakaoPay service. That brought access to every credit card around except for Hyundai Card, according to reports, and that last holdout should be brought in to the fold soon.

KakaoPay, right now, is keeping mum about its total install base, but industry estimates suggest the number is somewhere around two million users, a number that’s expected to rise thanks to the new Shinhan Card connection and the upcoming release of KakaoTaxi, a cab-hailing system that allows users to get a taxi from a mobile device directly.

KakaoTaxi will likely further step up KakaoPay use, as the two services are likely to be integrated, though KakaoTaxi is also likely to be linked to the Bank Wallet Kakao system, so gains may be limited as KakaoTaxi engages in just a bit of market cannibalization.

But here we see the critical core points of the mobile payment market. No one can go it alone. Partnerships are the ultimate key to success in the field.

The more uses a product can have, the better it’s likely to do in the field. We’ve seen examples of these points time and again; even Apple Pay likely wouldn’t have seen near so much in the way of gains if it hadn’t been for businesses accepting it as a mode of payment.

The CurrentC issue has likely hampered more than a little of that growth, but it also illustrates how important it is to have partners in the field, ready to accept that mobile payment system. A mobile payment system that works at one store is all fine and well, but when another one works at not only that store but also a dozen others, most will likely prefer the system that works in more places as it’s more convenient, all else being equal.

But KakaoPay is showing us plainly, it’s all in the partnerships. No matter how good the payment system is, if no one will accept it, it’s just plain useless.