KakaoPay said on Wednesday it launched a beta overseas remittance service for domestic and overseas users who need to send money abroad.

The service is designed so anyone can use it easily and safely without complex procedures or language barriers, from foreign residents in South Korea who need to send funds to their home countries to South Koreans who need to remit money overseas. Foreigners using KakaoPay currently number about 750,000, accounting for 1 in 3 foreign residents in the country.

KakaoPay said the strength of its overseas remittance service is convenience and speed. During the beta period it first supports remittances to Alipay users in China. Deposits are completed to the recipient's wallet at near real-time levels within 5 minutes after a remittance request.

KakaoPay also improved financial convenience by implementing customised UX reflecting the practical needs of foreign users.

It supports multiple languages including Korean, English, Chinese and Vietnamese. It also applied an auto-fill function that automatically sets the remittance country based on nationality information when foreign users send money to their home countries.

To mark the service launch, KakaoPay will fully waive overseas remittance fees until the end of 2026.

The service will be operated under a three-party collaboration model with Ant International's global remittance network and ICB, which holds a domestic small-amount overseas remittance licence. Starting with this, KakaoPay plans to expand eligible remittance countries to include the United States and Vietnam and add a function to send money directly to local bank accounts, not only wallets, to broaden the service scope.

KakaoPay said, "As a leading domestic daily financial platform chosen by the largest number of foreign users, we focused on maximising the convenience of overseas remittances by connecting KakaoPay's remittance experience, which has become part of everyday life for all citizens, to overseas remittances." It added, "Following the global home, we will continue to strengthen tailored services for foreign users and expand supported countries and remittance methods to provide the most beneficial financial environment for all users at home and abroad."