PayCo

 

PAYCO is a South Korean digital wallet and payments platform launched in 2014 by NHN Entertainment. It allows users to link bank accounts, credit cards, and debit cards to the app and pay online and in-store via QR code, app authentication, or stored value. With an estimated 12 million users and acceptance at over 90% of South Korean merchants, it holds approximately 10% of the South Korean mobile payment market. It is particularly popular among university students and younger consumers, with a dedicated Campus Zone feature embedded in the product.

South Korea is one of the world’s most advanced digital payments markets, with nearly two-thirds of the population using mobile wallets for in-store payments. The mobile wallet landscape is competitive, with Naver Pay leading at around 29% market share, followed by KakaoPay at 18%, Samsung Pay at 16%, and PAYCO at approximately 10%. Each wallet serves overlapping but somewhat distinct user segments, and Korean consumers often hold and use multiple wallets depending on context.

For merchants outside South Korea, PAYCO’s relevance is as an inbound payment method for Korean consumers, particularly relevant in markets with Korean tourist and cross-border shopper traffic. Unlike KakaoPay, which is embedded in the KakaoTalk messaging super-app and benefits from near-universal Korean consumer reach, PAYCO’s cross-border footprint is more limited. Its primary commercial value for non-Korean merchants is in serving Korean consumers on e-commerce sites, where offering local Korean payment methods reduces checkout abandonment among Korean shoppers who prefer not to enter card details on unfamiliar foreign sites.

Transactions are processed in South Korean Won (KRW), with currency conversion handled at the PSP level for non-Korean merchants. Stripe supports PAYCO for merchants in a wide range of countries, processing payments through KRW-denominated checkout sessions. Adyen offers PAYCO access via its partner Korea Cyber Payment (KCP). KOMOJU, a specialist Korean and Japanese payments provider, also supports PAYCO integration.

Merchant fees are percentage-based per transaction, in line with other digital wallet schemes, and vary by PSP.

Relevant markets: South Korea