Naver Pay has launched facial recognition payments on university campuses and plans to introduce its own payment terminal later this year.
Lotte Card has also entered the space after receiving regulatory clearance, with initial deployments expected at airports. Facial recognition is gradually being integrated into South Korea’s payments landscape, with several firms testing the waters and expanding services. Despite early efforts from traditional financial institutions, fintech companies are now driving much of the recent activity.
One of the first attempts came in 2019, when Shinhan Card piloted a facial payment service. Although the programme later expanded to select supermarkets and convenience stores, the need for users to register their faces in person, along with limited consumer uptake, slowed its wider implementation. The service remains confined to a small number of locations.
Fintech firms accelerate rollout amid regulatory constraints
More momentum has come from newer players. Toss, a South Korean fintech, introduced its facial payment option in February 2025, providing payment terminals and financial incentives to participating merchants. According to the firm, approximately 20,000 retail locations in Seoul currently accept the feature.
Despite broader interest, some structural limitations remain. Current regulations prohibit financial institutions from sharing facial data, which has resulted in fragmented systems and a lack of interoperability. Industry observers suggest that, in the long term, businesses may favour a single dominant provider to avoid the cost and complexity of managing multiple terminals.
Concerns around data privacy and accountability in the event of misuse also continue to shape how quickly the technology is adopted on a larger scale.
