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

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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

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Top Rated Comments

dguisinger Avatar
dguisinger
53 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
53 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)
kuwxman Avatar
kuwxman
53 months ago
?

Won't happen here in the US anytime though. Apple pays Congress too well.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
senttoschool
53 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)
mrochester Avatar
mrochester
53 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
53 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)
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