Coupang Financial to Accelerate Competition in Installment Financing Industry

Coupang Inc.’s headquarters in Jamsil, eastern Seoul. (image: Coupang)

SEOUL, Aug. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The installment financing industry is up for fierce competition with e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. joining the arena.

The Financial Supervisory Service said Monday that Coupang Pay’s subsidiary Coupang Financial has newly registered as an installment financing company last week.

Coupang Pay owns a 100-percent share of Coupang Financial.

Coupang established the CFC preparatory corporation, a Coupang Pay subsidiary earlier this year prior to entering the specialized credit financing industry, and changed the name of the corporation to Coupang Financial.

Any installment financing or new tech businesses that are not credit card companies are eligible for starting their business through a simple registration.

Starting an installment financing business requires a capital stock of more than 20 billion won (US$15.3 million). Coupang Financial’s capital stock was at 40 billion won, fulfilling the requirement.

Industry sources believe that Coupang will follow in the footsteps of Naver Financial Corp., a financial arm of portal operator Naver Corp., offering financing solutions for member stores as they increase its presence in the financial sector.

Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)