Chrome 63 cripples mobile payments in Korea

Specifically, the Chrome 63 Internet browser update – not to be confused with the recent Chrome OS 63 update – led to credit card payment errors across shopping malls in South Korean, however, the good news is that the search engine giant has addressed the issue through a newer software update distributed on December 18.

The Chrome 63 update reportedly landed in South Korea on December 11, and following the release, numerous smartphone users who rely on mobile payments were unable to make purchases for about a week. Apparently, the latest update to the Chrome browser introduced a bug that led to credit card and mobile payment errors not only when placing mobile payments via the Chrome browser, but also when attempting to make payments using the mobile applications provided by shopping malls.

Moreover, the problem also affected payments through external platforms including Payco, and it didn’t take long for smartphone users to address their complaints at local business owners who, in turn, were unable to solve the issue and instead advised customers to simply delete the latest version of the Chrome browser. It’s unclear whether this workaround was useful or not, but regardless, Google fixed the problem with a more recent Chrome update that began rolling out on December 18. Chrome 63 users in South Korea were highly advised to keep their smartphone browsers up to date to the latest version in order to avoid issues with mobile payments.