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On June 26, 2025, Sangjin Park, CEO of Naver Pay (Npay), shared Npay’s mid- to long-term strategic direction for the next decade at “Npay Media Day 2025” – to become a global top-tier fintech platform and a “digital financial hub” that breaks down the boundaries between online and offline and across national borders, powered by AI and Web3 technologies. Here is a summary of the key points he presented.

A New Initiative to Connect the Online and Offline Payment Ecosystems

Npay, used by 85% of Koreans in their 20s to 60s, is celebrating the 10^th anniversary of its service this year. Over the past decade, Npay has established itself as Korea’s leading simple digital payment service, with a cumulative transaction volume reaching KRW 328 trillion. To extend this leadership into the offline space, Npay plans to launch a new payment terminal called “CONNECT” within the year. CONNECT will support a wide variety of payment methods – from traditional ones such as cash and cards to newer technologies such as QR codes, NFC, MST*, and even face-authentication-based “Face Sign” payments. It is also designed to accommodate emerging payment technologies in the future. In addition, CONNECT will efficiently link online-based services essential for offline merchants – such as reservations, ordering, benefits, and reviews – enhancing the user experience across various offline stores. This will offer consumers a more seamless and convenient way to pay while helping merchants grow their businesses.

*NFC(Near Field Communication): A payment method that transmits encrypted data through short-range wireless communication between a mobile phone and a payment terminal

*MST(Magnetic Secure Transmission): A payment method that wirelessly transmits magnetic stripe credit card information using a mobile phone

Relentless Innovation for Users

Npay is continuously striving to develop technologies that enable better connections. Over the past decade, the company has made ongoing investments in its Fraud Detection System (FDS) to provide users with reliable financial services. As a result, in the first half of this year alone, Npay successfully blocked fraudulent transactions worth approximately KRW 3 trillion in advance. To further enhance user convenience, Npay introduced a “non-stop payment system” that allows seamless transactions even during the early morning hours when banks typically undergo maintenance. Thanks to this system, more than KRW 120 billion in payments were processed without interruption over the past year.

Npay also possesses the technological capability to handle 13 billion payment transactions annually – equivalent to 25,000 transactions per minute. In addition to this, Npay plans to strengthen its user community by creating and expanding financial and investment content that delivers useful insights to users. This will leverage a broad spectrum of data sources, including loans, insurance, cards, real estate, securities, and MyData-based user traffic. Furthermore, Npay aims to enhance its AI-powered, personalized financial services by becoming the first in the industry to adopt large language models (LLMs). Key initiatives include “AI House Finder”, which helps users discover real estate listings tailored to their preferences, and “Money Briefing”, which provides real-time financial information through the Npay Home page interface to support effective asset management.

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Staying Ahead with Technology That Leads the Future of Digital Finance

AI and Web3 are now at the forefront of innovation in digital finance. As these technologies evolve, users are becoming more financially literate, and the cost of cross-border financial transactions is steadily decreasing. In response, the financial industry is turning its attention to Korean won-based stablecoins – a key enabler of future finance that can seamlessly connect users across borders.

Npay is not only home to Korea’s largest simple digital payment ecosystem but also a top-tier digital payment platform equipped with advanced fintech capabilities – such as the Web3-based digital asset wallet, “Npay Wallet.” Backed by a stable infrastructure and strong risk management capability, Npay aims to take a leading role in the adoption of Korean won stablecoins, in alignment with future policy initiatives.

*Korean won-based stablecoin: A type of virtual asset that is not a typical cryptocurrency but is instead pegged 1:1 to a real fiat currency (e.g., 1 Korean won-based stablecoin = 1 Korean won)

Becoming a Global Digital Financial Hub

Building on such strategies, Npay aims to become a global digital financial hub that not only meets a diverse array of users’ financial needs across both online and offline everyday life, but also delivers seamless cross-border financial services. Leveraging its leadership in Korea’s simple digital payment market – along with its technological expertise and data science capabilities – Npay plans to integrate cutting-edge digital technologies such as AI, Web3, and robotics into its financial services. Over the coming decade, Npay is set to grow into a global top-tier fintech platform ●

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