Apple to allow third party app payment option in South Korea
The iPhone maker says it is looking forward to working with the regulator and developers on a solution that will benefit its Korean users
11 January 2022 - 17:09
by Agency Staff
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Seoul — South Korea’s telecommunications regulator said on Tuesday that Apple had submitted plans to allow third-party payment systems on its App Store to comply with a law banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use their payments systems.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) had requested Apple and Alphabet’s Google to submit compliance plans after the bill was passed in August last year and went into effect in September.
Google announced its plans to allow alternative payment systems in South Korea in November to comply with the amended Telecommunication Business Act, dubbed the “anti-Google law”.
“We look forward to working with the KCC and our developer community on a solution that benefits our Korean users,” Apple said in a statement, but did not provide details such as a timeline of when the new payment systems will take effect or commission fee rates.
It plans to discuss further details with the KCC, the regulator said. The KCC said Apple plans to allow alternative payment systems for a lower service fee versus the current 30% commissions.
In the US, the iPhone maker is wading through a lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games in 2020 when the game maker tried to get around Apple’s 30% fee on in-app purchases by launching an in-app payment system of its own.
A US judge last year ordered Apple to change its App Store rules, which ban developers from including links in buttons to outside payment systems over using Apple’s own.
“I hope Apple’s move here [in South Korea] isn’t another fake opening of payment systems as Google recently announced,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a tweet.
Apple said it paid developers a total of $260bn through its App Store since its launch in 2008, implying a $60bn payout to developers in 2021.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Apple to allow third party app payment option in South Korea
The iPhone maker says it is looking forward to working with the regulator and developers on a solution that will benefit its Korean users
Seoul — South Korea’s telecommunications regulator said on Tuesday that Apple had submitted plans to allow third-party payment systems on its App Store to comply with a law banning major app store operators from forcing software developers to use their payments systems.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) had requested Apple and Alphabet’s Google to submit compliance plans after the bill was passed in August last year and went into effect in September.
Google announced its plans to allow alternative payment systems in South Korea in November to comply with the amended Telecommunication Business Act, dubbed the “anti-Google law”.
“We look forward to working with the KCC and our developer community on a solution that benefits our Korean users,” Apple said in a statement, but did not provide details such as a timeline of when the new payment systems will take effect or commission fee rates.
It plans to discuss further details with the KCC, the regulator said. The KCC said Apple plans to allow alternative payment systems for a lower service fee versus the current 30% commissions.
In the US, the iPhone maker is wading through a lawsuit brought by “Fortnite” creator Epic Games in 2020 when the game maker tried to get around Apple’s 30% fee on in-app purchases by launching an in-app payment system of its own.
A US judge last year ordered Apple to change its App Store rules, which ban developers from including links in buttons to outside payment systems over using Apple’s own.
“I hope Apple’s move here [in South Korea] isn’t another fake opening of payment systems as Google recently announced,” Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney said in a tweet.
Apple said it paid developers a total of $260bn through its App Store since its launch in 2008, implying a $60bn payout to developers in 2021.
Reuters
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