Shinsegae introducing Samsung Pay for customers

Korean consumers will soon be able to use Samsung Pay on their Galaxy smartphones at Shinsegae department stores, E-mart discount chains and Starbucks outlets soon following an agreement between Shinsegae and Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Pay will be adopted at Shinsegae’s retail and department stores, including E-mart and Starbucks outlets (Starbucks Korea is a joint venture established by Starbucks International and Shinsegae in 1998).

Previously, Shinsegae had a policy of sole use for its own mobile payment system, SSG Pay. However, the group’s family owners were uncomfortable competing against Samsung, which shares family roots with Shinsegae (chairwoman Lee Myung-hee is a younger sister of Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee).

This is not the first case of Korea’s family-owned conglomerates avoiding competition in business with each other. LG Group‘s Koo family and GS Group‘s Huh family agreed not to intrude on each other’s business areas since they separated in 2005, with LG now focusing on electronics, chemicals and telecommunications while GS’s key businesses are energy and retail.

Samsung will also not compete with global lifestyle company CJ Group, whose chairman Lee Jae-hyun is a cousin of Samsung Electronics vice-chairman Lee Jae-yong.

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