iPhone users irked as Apple Pay remains in limbo - The Korea JoongAng Daily

 
Korea's fiscal watchdog remains cautious regarding Apple Pay's rollout successful Korea, contrary to rumors of the integer outgo service's imminent debut successful the country. 
 
Apple Pay has been the taxable of overmuch rumor and speculation, with the manufacture erstwhile forecasting that it would beryllium disposable successful Korea sometime aboriginal this year.
 
Last month, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) adjacent completed its reappraisal of the service's lawsuit protections and ineligible compliance. 
 
However, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) — the FSS's genitor enactment — announced Tuesday that it had halted the support process, explaining that it indispensable behaviour an further reappraisal earlier clearing Apple Pay.
 
“Contrary to reports, Apple Pay is not successful the last signifier for its rollout,” said a FSC spokesperson. “There’s inactive a batch to review.”
 
This comes contempt the FSC's closed-door gathering connected Jan. 25 with the Credit Finance Association and executives from Shinhan Card, Samsung Card and BC Card to sermon Apple Pay, a determination wide seen astatine the clip arsenic the last measurement successful the outgo solution's agelong travel to Korea.
   
The committee is focusing connected 2 issues — whether outgo accusation is astatine hazard of leaking overseas, and proviso rebates for paper readers.
 
Unlike different mobile outgo systems that enactment magnetic unafraid transmission (MST) exertion oregon integrated circuits (IC), Apple Pay requires adjacent tract connection (NFC) exertion to marque payments possible. In particular, it works with lone 1 benignant of NFC technology, namely, the EMV modular established by large planetary recognition paper companies Europay, Mastercard and Visa.
 
Payment accusation from Apple Pay would frankincense seep overseas done overseas transaction networks, which is presently against the law.
 
The Personal Information Protection Act forbids personally identifiable accusation from fiscal transactions to beryllium transferred overseas, giving fiscal authorities adjacent much to deliberation about.
 
NFC paper readers are besides successful abbreviated supply, falling abbreviated of 10 percent of the home market. If recognition paper companies administer the paper readers to stores escaped of charge, it could interruption the rebate origin of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act forbidding “unfairly demands that a recognition paper institution wage rewards successful instrumentality for transactions related to recognition cards, oregon receiving specified rewards.”
 

 
However, critics accidental that specified hurdles are not precocious capable to hold Apple Pay's debut successful Korea erstwhile different countries look to beryllium utilizing the work conscionable good without technological oregon information issues.
 
Apple Pay is 2nd lone to Visa for outgo transactions successful the planetary marketplace past year. Korea and Turkey are the lone countries successful the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wherever Apple Pay doesn't work.
 
Some experts speculate that determination whitethorn beryllium different crushed wherefore the work keeps getting postponed, namely, interest that income of home smartphones mightiness autumn if Apple Pay — which works lone with Apple devices — catches connected successful Korea.
 
“If income of home smartphone marketplace autumn owed to Apple Pay, the authorities faces much losses than gains,” said an manufacture insider who spoke nether conditions of anonymity. “So the authorities cannot disregard complaints from the industry.”
 
However, the FSC spokesperson denied the rumor, saying that the committee was lone examining whether Apple Pay "complies with the home regulations," denying that it was "considering the substance from an concern perspective.”
 
Complaints from iPhone users person grown louder, with owners of Apple's telephone taking to the net to request that the fiscal authorities determination much swiftly to o.k. the outgo solution.
 
“I deliberation the hold is akin to erstwhile the motorboat of caller iPhones was postponed,” an iPhone idiosyncratic told the JoongAng Ilbo. “It’s problematic that lone we are blocked from utilizing the work erstwhile iPhone users relationship for 30 percent of Korean smartphone users.” 
 

BY KIM NAM-JUN, LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]