April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Kakao Corp. said on Feb. 21 that its mobile payment business unit Kakao Pay has received a US$200 million funding from Ant Financial Services Group, a parent firm of Chinese mobile payment giant AliPay.

Earlier in January, Kakao’s board members approved the spin-off plan for Kakao Pay in April. The number of Kakao Pay users has reached 14 million people.

Under the new partnership, the two firms also agreed to allow their users to make purchases using both of their mobile payment platforms in Korea and China.

AliPay, which has partnered with 34,000 stores and businesses across Korea, has seen a surge in Korean sales thanks to the influx of Chinese travelers in recent years.

“Kakao will be able to offer diverse services to individual users, partner stores and corporate customers by combing a range of services available on AliPay, including financial and commerce services,” said Ryu Young-joon, Kakao’s senior vice president who will lead the spin-off company.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)