China Travel Boosts Kakaopay by 94.5%
Hey Payments Fanatic!
When China introduced visa-free entry for South Korean travelers last November, the impact was almost immediate. Airports grew busier, flights filled up, and businesses in both countries felt the shift.
For Kakaopay, the effect was clear in the numbers: between November and February, its app users in China increased by 94.5% year-on-year, while first-time users making payments through the platform surged by 98.2%.
Kakaopay has been part of South Korea’s digital finance landscape since 2014, offering mobile transactions through QR codes and NFC technology. With over 31 million users, the platform goes beyond payments, providing services like insurance, lending, and investments. Its reach extends across the APAC region, including Japan, China, Laos, Singapore, and the Philippines.
December saw the highest spike in usage, with transaction volume rising by 130.5% compared to the previous year. The trend mirrors travel patterns—South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport recorded 4.53 million passenger movements between the two countries after the visa policy change, a 31.6% increase from the same period a year earlier.
In China, where mobile payments are the norm, Kakaopay has been woven into the routines of South Korean travelers. Through its partnership with Alipay, the service allows users to scan QR codes or barcodes at local stores without additional setup. No cash, no cards—just a phone and a payment barcode that adjusts automatically when abroad. A small shift in travel policies, and the habits that follow, tell a bigger story.
If you’re interested in reading a bit about what’s been happening in Payments, keep scrolling!
Cheers,
P.S. If you’re in Amsterdam on April 10th, check out the Mollie Developer Meetup. Henrique Di Lorenzo, VP of Product at Mollie, will be sharing product updates and what’s next for the company. Sounds like a good place to be!
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GOLDEN NUGGET
Welcome to 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐲 by Checkout.com — Episode 7 👋
What is "𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞"?
► Intelligent Acceptance is an AI-powered optimization engine designed to help enterprise businesses boost their payment performance. It fine-tunes every element of the payment flow in real time.
► It has already unlocked over $10 billion in additional merchant revenue by helping global brands convert more payments with less friction.
𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?
The engine operates across five optimization layers:
1️⃣ 𝐀𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 — Dynamically adjusts transaction fields (e.g., MCC, merchant name, descriptor) to align with issuer preferences and increase approval odds.
2️⃣ 𝐃𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐑𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 — Selects the optimal acquirer, payment method, or network route based on historical success rates and real-time performance data.
3️⃣ 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — Uses risk scoring to determine when to trigger or bypass 3D Secure (3DS) for frictionless yet compliant checkout flows.
4️⃣ 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬 — Replaces raw PANs with network-issued tokens, reducing fraud and improving acceptance with card issuers.
5️⃣ 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 — Re-attempts failed transactions with modified parameters, often within milliseconds, to turn declines into approvals.
𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐭𝐬:
✅ 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞-𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 — Intelligent Acceptance analyzes and adapts transaction paths instantly to respond to issuer behavior, fraud patterns, or network performance.
✅ 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 — From tokenization to adaptive logic, it ensures merchants stay on the cutting edge of payment optimization.
✅ 𝐌𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧, 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 — Each optimization module (routing, retries, tokens) can be deployed individually, based on merchant needs.
✅ 𝐂𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐠𝐚𝐩𝐬 — Intelligent Acceptance connects fragmented data across the payment journey to ensure no payment is left behind.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬:
► Recovered more revenue from declines
► Improved approval rates
► Delivered a faster, more seamless checkout
► Gained full control and transparency into their performance
𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐑
“At a time when the global economy is putting increased pressure on enterprise margins, we’re proud that Intelligent Acceptance is unlocking real, measurable revenue for our merchants.” — Meron Colbeci, CPO at Checkout.com
Source: Checkout.com x Connecting the dots in payments...
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