Watchers attributed Zero Pay’s poor record to the small number of participating merchants and customers’ unwillingness to change their payment habits. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 70 percent of customers have a positive view of the Seoul city government’s smartphone-based payment system, but a fewer number actually plan to use the service, a survey showed Tuesday.
According to the survey by the Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute involving 600 residents in Seoul, 67 percent approve of the Zero Pay system.
Only 59 percent, however, expressed their willingness to use the tool.
In a bid to help relieve small merchants of burdensome credit card fees, the Seoul metropolitan government began the trial run of the payment service in December, enabling users to pay for purchases without cards and receive tax benefits.
But it has a poor record and reputation among both customers and businesses.
In January, the service accounted for a mere 0.0006 percent of the 1.56 billion purchases made using credit, debit and prepaid cards, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. As of end-January, slightly over 46,600 small shops and businesses were taking part in the pilot payment service.
“In order to encourage more people to change their payment habits and use the service, more practical measures are required,” the institute said in its recent report, pointing to its payment settlement, which is different from the credit card usage.
Under the Zero Pay system, money is transferred from a consumer account to that of a merchant when the consumer scans the merchant’s QR code with a smartphone using the existing apps of commercial banks or online payment platforms.
After the trial run, the municipal government plans to formally launch the service after March.
(Yonhap)
