Delay in Apple Pay approval for South Korea sends VAN co. shares tumbling

The news of US mobile device giant Apple launching its Apple Pay service in South Korea this month sent the share prices of companies that assist the digital payment system upward in recent weeks. But the delay in the Seoul financial authority’s approval process of Apple Pay sent the share prices tumbling this week.

Shares of Korea Information plunged 12% this week.

KG Inicis and NICE Group shares have fluctuated by 4 to 5% daily over several days.

The Korea Information, KG Inicis, and NICE Group are Value Added Network (VAN) companies. 

Hyundai Card, for its part, signed an exclusive agreement with Apple and began developing a system for incorporating Apple Pay in the company’s payment system with VAN companies. 

Industry insiders expect Apple Pay to become available for Korean customers this month, given that similar reviews by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) have taken one to two months in the past.

Write to Eui-Myung Park at uimyung@hankyung.com
Jee Abbey Lee edited this article.