Kakao Pay and Japan's PayPay launched outbound cross-border QR payment services in November 2024, enabling South Korean users to make payments at PayPay-accepting merchants throughout Japan directly from the Kakao Pay application. The initiative connected Kakao Pay users with PayPay's network of around 3.2 million merchants across Japan, removing the need for foreign currency exchange or the use of international payment cards at participating outlets.
HOW THE CROSS-BORDER SERVICE WORKS
Under the arrangement, a Kakao Pay user travelling in Japan opens the Kakao Pay application and selects the QR payment option as they would for a domestic transaction in South Korea. At the merchant's checkout, the customer scans the PayPay QR code displayed at the point of sale, and the transaction is processed through the Alipay+ cross-border network, to which both Kakao Pay and PayPay are connected. The currency conversion from Korean won to Japanese yen is handled within the payment flow, with the merchant receiving settlement in yen through PayPay's established infrastructure.
The service covers around 3.2 million PayPay merchants where customers scan the merchant's PayPay QR code, including small independent businesses.
Kakao Pay, operated by Kakao Pay Corporation and listed on the Korea Exchange, has been expanding its international payment capabilities. The company has pursued interoperability partnerships with payment platforms in other Asian markets.
REGIONAL QR LINKAGES
Central banks and payment authorities in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and other markets had already developed live cross-border QR linkages.