Seoul Electronics & Telecom Accelerates New "Post-Payment Reward" Business, Aiming to Secure 50,000 Partner Stores

Seoul Electronics & Telecom Co., Ltd. (027040) is expanding its business scope from the traditional payment infrastructure sector to a platform business. Ahead of the official launch of its “post-payment reward platform” scheduled for September, the company is seeking to secure up to 100,000 partner stores, aiming to establish a new recurring revenue stream linked to transaction volume.

On August 12, Seoul Electronics & Telecom announced that it will accelerate the recruitment of partner stores for “Kkakkaba,” a project being jointly promoted with platform specialist Pathfinder Labs. The company has initially secured the rights to recruit 50,000 partner stores and plans to expand this to up to 100,000, depending on the progress of the business.

As a first step, at the end of August, the company will open a dedicated landing page for store registration and initiate registration guidance for 10,000 small businesses across the country. Afterward, the company plans to gradually increase the number of participating stores to build its initial target network of 50,000 partner stores.

The process for recruiting merchants has also been streamlined. Store owners can sign up directly using a QR code included in the instruction materials, and upon registration, a dedicated corporate recruitment code assigned to Seoul Electronics & Telecom is automatically linked. This structure enables rapid partner store acquisition without the need to deploy a large field sales team.

In this initiative, the key focus for Seoul Electronics & Telecom is not only the number of partner stores but also the recurring revenue model where income is generated in proportion to transaction volume.

Through the exclusive corporate recruitment code, Seoul Electronics & Telecom receives a 1% management fee from the transaction volume generated by “Kkakkaba” at affiliated partner stores. Thus, the more partner stores and the greater the actual transaction value by platform users, the higher the company’s fee income will be.

Compared to the conventional payment infrastructure business, this also brings a change to the profit structure. While the POS and payment-related hardware business generated revenue mainly from equipment supply, Kkakkaba allows the company to repeatedly earn transaction-linked fees based on an expanding partner store network and continuous transactions.

Lowering the participation burden for small businesses is another factor for early platform proliferation. Kkakkaba partner stores can use the service without any sign-up or monthly fees and can retain their existing payment systems. The platform also minimizes the need for additional investment in equipment for adoption.

The cost structure is also designed to be performance-based. Unlike conventional advertising platforms where advertising fees are paid upfront, costs are incurred only when actual platform member purchases occur. This means that for small businesses, initial expenses are minimized, while they can look forward to attracting new customers and encouraging repeat visits.

The company expects that if Seoul Electronics & Telecom expands its network beyond the initial target of 50,000 partner stores to a maximum of 100,000, it will be able to quickly secure the merchant infrastructure that forms the core of its platform business. Once user numbers and transaction volumes grow in tandem, the expanded partner store network is expected to create a virtuous cycle, further boosting platform usage.

Seoul Electronics & Telecom plans to fully initiate its platform business with the official launch of Kkakkaba in September. The company’s strategy is to foster a new growth axis by layering a transaction-based fee model on top of its traditional payment infrastructure and hardware-focused business model.

A Seoul Electronics & Telecom official stated, “For small businesses, there is no burden of sign-up or monthly fees, making it possible to attract new customers and encourage repeat visits. The company, in turn, can secure a continuously recurring revenue source as the platform ecosystem expands. We expect that this structure, which enables both small businesses and the platform to grow together, will be the key driver behind rapid partner store network expansion.”

The official added, “With the launch of the landing page at the end of August, we will first secure 10,000 partner stores and then expand the network step-by-step from the initial 50,000 to up to 100,000. By combining a transaction-linked platform revenue model with our existing hardware and payment infrastructure business, we aim to foster a new growth axis.”

Through “Kkakkaba,” Seoul Electronics & Telecom plans to build a network of up to 100,000 partner stores and establish a recurring revenue structure by charging a 1% fee on transaction volume, thereby transitioning from its traditional payment infrastructure business into a platform business.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.