Samsung Wallet Money payments enabled at WeChat Pay and Mastercard merchants

Over 150 million merchants now accessible

Special rewards of up to 5.3% offered through year-end

Bank chief cites smartphone competitiveness and digital finance capabilities

Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan speaks at a press briefing on Samsung Wallet Money at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Woori Bank]
Woori Bank CEO Jung Jin-wan speaks at a press briefing on Samsung Wallet Money at the bank's headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Woori Bank]

Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics are expanding the reach of Samsung Wallet Money, a mobile payment service, to merchants worldwide. Users will now be able to make payments at WeChat Pay merchants across China and at Mastercard-affiliated merchants globally — a move the two companies say will deepen their international partnership.

Woori Bank held a press briefing on Samsung Wallet Money at its headquarters in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. CEO Jung Jin-wan said he felt great pride that Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics had together created a new overseas payment experience in South Korea, a country with both smartphone manufacturing competitiveness and digital finance capabilities.

The core of the collaboration is connecting Samsung Wallet Money — currently usable only at domestic merchants — to overseas payment networks. To that end, Jung traveled to Shenzhen, China, on Monday to meet with Samsung Electronics and Tencent representatives, signing a memorandum of understanding to support and expand Samsung Wallet Money's overseas payment service and formally launching the service in China.

Samsung Wallet Money users will now be able to make QR-code payments at WeChat Pay merchants throughout China. Table-order payments at restaurants and similar establishments will also be supported.

Beyond China, users can pay via NFC at more than 150 million merchants across 210 countries connected to the Mastercard network, including those in North America, Europe and Japan.

Rewards earned domestically carry over to overseas transactions. The service charges no foreign transaction fees or annual fees, and overseas payments earn base rewards with no per-transaction limits or accumulation caps.

Through year-end, a promotional campaign will offer special rewards of up to 5.3 percent. The rate breaks down as a base 0.3 percent on overseas purchases, plus an additional 2.5 percent each for linking Samsung Wallet Money to a Woori Bank account — totaling up to 5.3 percent. A user spending 100,000 won ($76) abroad could earn up to 5,300 won in points.

The addition of overseas payment capability had long been a wish among Samsung Wallet Money users. The service eliminates the need to obtain a separate travel card, exchange currency in advance, or install a local payment app when traveling abroad.

A Woori Bank official described the offering as "Triple-Zero travel finance — zero physical card issuance, zero advance currency exchange, zero additional app installation." The official added that users can swipe up from the bottom of their Galaxy phone's screen to launch Samsung Wallet Money and pay abroad just as they would at home.

Samsung Wallet Money, a prepaid mobile payment service launched in October last year, reached 3 million subscribers as of Tuesday. Woori Bank accounts make up 42 percent of all linked funding accounts across 20 banks, ranking first.

The service streamlines the payment process by allowing users to tap their Galaxy phone directly to a payment terminal, and its automatic top-up feature — which draws from a linked account immediately before payment — has been cited as a key driver of its convenience.

For domestic transactions, Samsung Wallet Money also provides a base reward of 0.5 percent on offline purchases and 1.5 percent on online purchases, with no accumulation conditions or caps.

Woori Bank has partnered directly with everyday merchants such as convenience stores, cutting out card-company intermediaries and redirecting the resulting cost savings into customer rewards, discounts and merchant promotions. The bank plans to expand this virtuous cycle, in which both customers and merchants benefit as payment volume grows.

Woori Bank views the overseas payment expansion as the product of combining South Korea's manufacturing competitiveness with its digital finance capabilities. Going forward, the bank plans to continue discussions with Samsung Electronics on expanding the service to more countries, starting with Greater China, and to further strengthen its global business partnership based on the collaboration model built domestically.

"Now that we have opened the door to paying anywhere in the world with a single Galaxy phone, we will keep enhancing Samsung Wallet Money's convenience, benefits and security to reshape the overseas payment market," Jung said at the briefing.

The launch of Samsung Wallet Money's overseas payment service is expected to shake up the competitive landscape in the card and fintech industries. Naver Pay and Kakao Pay are also expanding their footprints in major Asian markets where QR-code payments are widespread, pointing to intensifying competition ahead.


hyuk@heraldcorp.com