Business data platform company Cucon said on June 8 it will provide a payment service linking "Seoul Pay" in partnership with Singapore fintech company Liquid Group.

Under the partnership, foreign tourists can pay at affiliated merchants in the Seoul area through their home payment apps, such as Liquid Pay, without separate sign-ups or additional settings.

Domestic small business owners can also accept various overseas simple-payment methods with existing QR codes, without building separate foreign-currency payment systems. Cucon said it expects inbound tourists' spending to translate into sales for local commercial districts.

Liquid Group is a digital payments company headquartered in Singapore. It operates RoamQR, a cross-border payment network that connects e-wallets and mobile banking apps across the Asia-Pacific region.

RoamQR is a hub service that links QR standards across countries so users can pay overseas using their home mobile apps. Liquid Group added South Korea as a new core market through the partnership. If the payment network expands to Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Cambodia, Cucon's list of connectable countries is expected to increase in stages.

Cucon said it supports the domestic rollout of global simple-payment services based on an infrastructure of 2,000,000 QR-affiliated merchants nationwide, 100,000 franchises and 40,000 ATMs. It said it plans to strengthen its position as an Asia payment hub through the collaboration with Liquid Group, following its linkage with major overseas payment methods such as UnionPay, WeChat Pay, Alipay+ and Indonesia's QRIS.

Cucon said it is focusing on optimizing each country's payment standards for domestic infrastructure, beyond simply linking payment methods. It said it plans to expand a payment ecosystem that can be used by both foreign tourists and domestic small businesses.

Jeremy Tan (제레미 탄), chief executive of Liquid Group, said "QR interoperability adds a new mobile-based experience to existing card- and cash-centered cross-border payments, expanding merchant acceptance and making global commerce smoother."

Kim Jong-hyun (김종현), chief executive of Cucon, said "Cucon's cross-border payment innovation is an important turning point in expanding across Asia," adding "it will serve as a technological bridge so digital-native tourists can conveniently use services all the way to neighborhood commercial districts in Korea, and it will continue to expand into next-generation digital payment technologies."