SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Citcon, Inc. the leading mobile wallet payment provider enabling global commerce at scale, today announced that it has expanded its global footprint to encompass South Korea and Japan. Merchants using Citcon ‘s global payments gateway can now transact with consumers in these markets using all local payment methods, including more than 30 locally issued credit and debit cards and eight popular digital wallets, all through a single payments gateway.
Retail ecommerce and digital sales in Asia Pacific totaled nearly $2.99 trillion in 2021. Japan and Korea are the 4th and 5th largest markets for digital sales and ecommerce transactions in the world, and the 2nd and 3rd largest in the region ranking only behind global leader, China. Together Japan and South Korea account for more digital commerce than Germany, France and India, combined.1
“We are enabling merchants to enter global markets where ecommerce is expanding rapidly, yet market participation requires a localized payments solution,” said Chuck Huang, Founder and CEO of Citcon. “With on the ground presence in South Korea and Japan, we can help merchants of all types expand their ecommerce offerings into these fast-growing markets, enabling them to securely transact in local currencies and native languages preferred by shoppers in these regions through one integrated technology stack.”
Citcon’s global payments solution simplifies the complex challenge of integrating and managing multiple payment methodologies to enable cross-border commerce. Through this platform, local transactions, even for those using global credit cards, are routed through local acquirers - in South Korea and Japan - significantly reducing processing fees for merchants and increasing acceptance rates for consumers. 3D Secure 2.0 standards have been integrated to provide security and fraud protection for purchases made with global credit cards.
Merchants using the Citcon platform can now accept payments from 30 global and regional credit and debit cards including Visa, MasterCard, AMEX, JCB, DinersClub,, BC Card, Lotte, Hyundai, KB, Samsung, Samsung App Card Pay, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Citibank, Post Office, Kwangju, L.Pay, Kakaobank, MG, Suhyup, Jeonbuk, Shinhyup, Jeju, KDB, Hana, KB Able, K Bank, Mirae Asset, and KEB.
The Citcon platform also enables the use of each country’s most popular digital wallets. In Japan merchants can process transactions using PayPay, RakutenPay, LinePay, AliPay and UnionPay. In South Korea, Citcon enables direct bank transfer, as well as payments through the most popular digital wallets including Toss, KakaoPay, NaverPay and Payco.
“Enabling cross border commerce requires not only an understanding of the market dynamics and transaction preferences of consumers, but also the customer experience insight to ensure a smooth checkout process,” explained Wei Jiang, Citcon COO and President. “Our customer experience pathway delivers a checkout experience whereby customers are seamlessly served the appropriate payment window or app interface, built in authentication layers ensure transaction fidelity, and quick approval and order confirmation provide confidence to both customer and merchant that their purchase has been received safely and payment has been processed.”
For more about the features and benefits of the Citcon platform for merchants currently operating in or considering expanding to Japan or South Korea, please see these two new market perspectives from the global payment experts at Citcon: Japan Payment Methods: What Merchants Need to Know and South Korea Payment Methods: What Merchants Need to Know.
ABOUT CITCON
Founded in 2015, Citcon’s fintech platform enables seamless global commerce at scale by connecting the world’s businesses with more than 100+ mobile wallets, local and alternative payment methods. Citcon integrates with POS and ecommerce systems such as Toshiba, Oracle, Cegid, Shopify and SAP and is currently deployed at more than 30,000 merchants' sites and locations, including major brands such as L’Oreal, Tumi, Texas Instruments, Revolve, Macy’s, and Panda Express. In October 2021, Citcon closed a $30MM Series C funding round. The company is backed by leading global investors Norwest Venture Partners, Cota Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sonae, and East-West Bank. Citcon has five regional offices in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia to service its global clientele. Learn more at https://www.citcon.com.
________________________
1 eMarketer, Insider Intelligence Top Global Ecommerce Markets, May 2021
