Apple to Allow Alternative Payment Systems in App Store in South Korea

by

Apple will let App Store developers offer alternative payment systems in South Korea after the country passed a law that bans app store operators from requiring developers to use their own in-app purchase systems, reports The Korea Herald.

General App Store South Korea Feature Feature
Apple still plans to charge a reduced fee on purchases made through alternative payment systems, according to plans the company submitted to the Korea Communications Commission. Apple did not indicate when the new policy will take effect or what its commission structure will be for alternative payments, the report said.

"We look forward to working with the KCC and our developer community on a solution that benefits our Korean users," Apple said in a statement shared with The Korea Herald. "Apple has a great deal of respect for Korea's laws and a strong history of collaboration with the country's talented app developers. Our work will always be guided by keeping the App Store a safe and trusted place for our users to download the apps they love."

In November, Google announced it would also let developers offer alternative in-app billing systems in its Play Store in South Korea, and said it would reduce its fee for alternative payment systems by four percentage points. For the "vast majority" of developers, Google said its fee would drop from 15% for transactions through Google Play's billing system to 11% for transactions through an alternate billing system.

Tag: App Store

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
Read Full Article • 91 comments
m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
Read Full Article • 243 comments
M3 iPad Air

Apple's Next Two Products Are Coming Soon

Thursday February 12, 2026 11:17 am PST by
Apple plans to release an iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip "in the coming weeks," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "Apple retail employees say that inventory of the iPhone 16e has basically dried out and the iPad Air is seeing shortages as well," said Gurman. "I've been expecting new versions of both (iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air) in the coming weeks."...
Read Full Article
Apple Logo Black

Apple Acquires New Database App

Wednesday February 11, 2026 6:44 am PST by
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged. The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions. Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...
Read Full Article • 33 comments
iPhone 16e Bottom Crop

Apple Reportedly Unveiling a New iPhone Next Week

Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically. The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Read Full Article

Top Rated Comments

D
dguisinger
54 months ago
I'll say it again

In-app purchases of stuff you are not a man-in-the-middle distributor of, and you aren't doing the payment processing anymore. What entitles you to ANY money?

Walmart only gets the initial magazine purchase, not a cut of the subscription made from the included postcard.
Target only gets the initial iPhone sale, not a part of your app purchases or your Apple Fitness subscription fees.

Why should digital be any different? Its still a mob shakedown. Nice app you've got there, it would be a real shame if something happened to it.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
huge_apple_fangirl Avatar
huge_apple_fangirl
54 months ago
Oh wow.
First cracks starting to appear in the garden walls. Only a matter of time before the EU follows suit.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
K
kuwxman
54 months ago
?

Won't happen here in the US anytime though. Apple pays Congress too well.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
S
senttoschool
54 months ago

How will this work? Apple and Google aren't processing the payments so how would they know how their reduced cut should be? Do developers have to report their third-party payments to Apple and Google's version of the IRS? Or are they both still acting as a middle-man between the consumer and third-party payment system?
Auditing.

It'll cost Apple resources to do auditing of apps. And it'll be more costly for developers to use an alternative payment because they have to spend resources to keep track of how much they earn and pay Apple by check or bank deposit.

If my app is making decent money, I'd never cheat Apple out of the commission because they can take my app offline anytime. That's way too risky.

If I'm an iOS developer, I'd never use a 3rd party payment system for this reason alone. Too much hassle.

Basically, allowing 3rd party payment systems don't help developer save money. The only things that would help are side loading, alternative app stores, or laws governing commission fees for app stores.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
M
mrochester
54 months ago

I'll say it again

In-app purchases of stuff you are not a man-in-the-middle distributor of, and you aren't doing the payment processing anymore. What entitles you to ANY money?

Walmart only gets the initial magazine purchase, not a cut of the subscription made from the included postcard.
Target only gets the initial iPhone sale, not a part of your app purchases or your Apple Fitness subscription fees.

Why should digital be any different? Its still a mob shakedown. Nice app you've got there, it would be a real shame if something happened to it.
Walmart makes a profit selling the magazine.

When someone downloads a free app and purchases in-app subscription, Apple has made no profit unless they charge a commission for the in-app purchase.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ritmo Avatar
Ritmo
54 months ago

Walmart makes a profit selling the magazine.

When someone downloads a free app and purchases in-app subscription, Apple has made no profit unless they charge a commission for the in-app purchase.
Apple makes profit selling the devices and its own services. They could also improve the in-app payments so that developers would choose them over the alternatives.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments