Korean local cards

Cards are the most popular way to pay in South Korea flag South Korea, with many different card issuers and most cards running through nine local payment networks rather than Visa, Mastercard, or other international payment networks.

Rather than entering card details manually, customers typically pay by selecting their card brand and authenticating using their banking app.

You don't need to set up a bank account in South Korea to add Korean local cards as a payment option with Paddle.

primary market

Local cards are a popular payment method for customers in South Korea.

$154bn

total payments/year

The transaction value for local debit cards totals ₩212tn a year, as of 2021.

6.3

cards per adult

South Korea has one of the highest card penetration rates in the world.

BC Card
Citi Card
Hana Card
Hyundai Card
Jeju Card
Jeonbuk Card
Kakao Bank Card
Kbank Card
KDB Bank Card
Kookmin Card
Kwangju Card
Lotte Card
mg Card
Naver Pay Card
NH Card
Post Card
Samsung Card
Savings bank
Shinhan Card
Shinhyup Card
Suhyup Card
Woori Card

How it works

Customer chooses Korean local cards

Turn on Korean local cards in a couple of clicks in your Paddle dashboard. Paddle automatically presents the option to pay using Korean local cards for customers paying in a supported country and currency.

Customer chooses their local card

Paddle presents a list of local cards for the customer to choose from. This is typical for card payments in South Korea, and understood by customers in the region.

Customer starts confirmation

Payment method issuers have different ways of confirming a payment — for example, by scanning a QR code, entering a one-time passcode, or tapping on a push notification.

As part of confirmation, customers are typically prompted to open their banking app to review the transaction.

Customer confirms purchase

Customer confirms purchase on their phone using their banking app. The exact process varies depending on the banking app the customer uses, but typically they'll enter their card PIN or authenticate using on-device biometrics.

Payment complete

If successful, Paddle Checkout shows a success screen or enters your success workflow.

Accept Korean local cards

Go to Paddle > Checkout > Checkout settings.
On the General tab, check Korean local cards.
Click Save to apply.

Test Korean local cards

You can test Korean local cards using your Paddle sandbox account.

Turn on Korean local cards for your Paddle account.
Open a checkout for an item that's priced in KRW (South Korean Won).
Pick South Korea as the country on the first screen of checkout, then enter an email.
Select Korean local cards as the payment method.
Click Pay and follow the prompts to complete purchase.

Paddle Checkout only presents Korean local cards as a payment method for items priced in South Korean Won, where the customer address is in South Korea.