Korea's mPayment Plans Hit By Conflicts
The standardization of credit card-based mobile payment solutions in Korea is hampered by a dispute between the mobile carriers and service providers, according to industry sources. Two leading telcos, SK Telecom and KTF, are promoting their own standards, while Harex InfoTech, aSKT, KTF and Harex InfoTech all use IrFM to facilitate mobile payments between a handset and a POS terminal, but SKT's and KTF's card-based m-payments rely on IC (integrated chips) that are built into handsets. Harex InfoTech stores credit card data on the chips within a mobile handset, yet "faces a serious challenge", FT.com reports, in that "the mobile carriers essentially bypass
KTF and SKT "are expected to skip the mediator and launch their own services to jack up revenue", FT.com reports, and both are about to launch new handsets for m-payments. But SKT is clashing with the credit card firms in demanding more than 1 per cent in fees for card transactions on its network. Korea's banks also dislike SKT's mobile finance service, "NEMO", to which eight commercial banks are linked, and have accused SKT and KTF of undercutting their profits by "controlling the country's infrastructure", according to a senior bank official. Related Links
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