Terms of service indicate Apple Pay may soon be in Korea

An Apple store in Yeouido, western Seoul. [NEWS1]

A clause regarding Apple Pay was added to Apple’s terms of services for Korea, providing an indication that Apple Pay will become available in the country soon.

The clause, detailing terms related to payment and billing through Apple Pay, can be read on Apple’s terms of services page for Korea online.

“Users can use Apple Pay to charge payment methods on their Apple Wallet of choice,” read the new clause.

According to Apple, the terms of services were updated globally in September last year, including in countries where Apple Pay is not available.

In August this year, local press reported that Apple was in talks with Hyundai Card to bring the service to Korea. Apple never confirmed the reports.

Introduced in 2014 with the iPhone 6, Apple Pay can be used with cards issued in 72 countries. Korea is one of the few Asian countries without the service due in part to the extraordinarily low commissions in Korea.

The rates range from 0.5 percent to 1.6 percent per transaction, depending on the size of the seller. At mom-and-pop stores with less than 300 million won ($215,235) in annual sales, the financial authorities limit the fee to 0.5 percent.

Apple has been asking for a 1-percent commission, according to unconfirmed reports.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]