"I entered a shop selling coffee mugs in Shenzhen, China, and bought one set of coffee mugs using Samsung Wallet Money on Monday. The amount required for the payment was automatically charged from my linked Woori Bank account and settled in yuan. I paid about 100,000 won, and I received more than 5,000 won worth of points."
This is an account by Woori Bank President Chung Jin-wan of his direct use of "Samsung Wallet Money" in China. The president visited Shenzhen on the 25th and 26th to purchase coffee mugs with employees, and subsequently bought egg rolls in Hong Kong. Through Samsung Wallet Money, WeChat Pay QR codes were used for payments in Shenzhen, while the Mastercard payment network was utilized in Hong Kong, allowing transactions to be completed using only a Galaxy smartphone.
At the "Samsung Wallet Money Press Conference" on the 28th, President Chung stated, "Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics have created a global payment experience worldwide that applies no card, no cash, and no app," adding, "We will continuously enhance the convenience, benefits, and security of Samsung Wallet Money to change the landscape of the overseas payment market."
Samsung Wallet Money is a prepaid mobile payment service where users charge funds from their bank accounts for use, which had previously been available only for domestic payments. With this service launch, overseas payments are now possible in 211 countries.
The core feature is that no physical card issuance, prior currency exchange, or additional app installation is required for overseas payments. Users can make payments abroad by launching Samsung Wallet Money on their usual Galaxy smartphone. The service supports automatic charging from a linked account followed by immediate payment, eliminating the need to exchange foreign currency in advance. It also removes the process of installing separate apps to use local payment services.
In China, through a partnership with Tencent, QR payments are supported at WeChat Pay merchant locations across the country. Table order payments, widely used in restaurants, are also possible. Outside of China, in North America, Europe, Japan, and other regions, an NFC-based payment service is provided by tapping a smartphone to a payment terminal at over 150 million merchant locations in 210 countries connected to the Mastercard payment network.
A basic point rate of 0.3% of the overseas payment amount is accumulated, with an additional 2.5 percentage points (P) added until year-end, resulting in a total basic accumulation of 2.8%. Additionally, linking a Woori Bank account by the end of this year allows for an extra 2.5 percentage points (p) to be accumulated, enabling up to 5.3% to be earned. This means that paying 100,000 won overseas can yield up to 5,300 points.
There are no overseas payment fees, currency exchange fees, or annual fees. Travel cards operated by domestic banks typically incur annual fees of 20,000 to 30,000 won.
Woori Bank plans to expand the usage scope and customer base of Samsung Wallet Money through its overseas payment functionality. Samsung Wallet Money, launched in October last year, has secured 3 million valid subscribers as of the 27th. Among charging accounts, the share of Woori Bank accounts is 42%, the highest among the 20th banks that can be linked.
Woori Bank also expressed confidence in its security measures. It monitors suspected fraudulent use and financial fraud transactions through a dual-layer system combining Woori Bank's existing FDS (Fraud Detection System) with a dedicated detection system for Samsung Wallet Money. In practice, regarding Samsung Wallet Money, the bank prevented an attempt where a fraudster impersonated a child to extract a parent's information, registered it on a mule phone, and tried to embezzle funds, thereby preventing 2 million won in victim losses.
Furthermore, it was explained that no customer information is transmitted to overseas merchants when making payments linked with WeChat Pay. Heo Min-woo, manager of the Platform Business Division at Woori Bank, stated, "Content classified as customer information, such as resident registration numbers or CI (Customer Identification) data, is not transmitted at all," adding, "However, information that can identify a customer is masked during transmission and reception, so even if it were intercepted, there would be no leakage."
Going forward, Woori Bank plans to consult with Samsung Electronics on expanding the number of countries where overseas payments are possible, including the Greater China region, and to strengthen global business partnerships.
in FINANCE
