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

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.

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
apple oct 2024 mac tease

Apple Expected to Announce These Two to Three Products 'This Week'

Sunday October 12, 2025 7:05 am PDT by
Apple plans to announce new products "this week," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple's "Mac Your Calendars" teaser last October In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the products set to be updated this week include the iPad Pro, Vision Pro, and "likely" the base 14-inch MacBook Pro, with all three likely to receive a spec bump with Apple's next-generation M5 chip. Gurman...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
joz macbook tease

Apple Teases Upcoming M5 MacBook Pro Launch: 'Something Powerful is Coming'

Tuesday October 14, 2025 11:59 am PDT by
Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak today teased the launch of an upcoming product, saying "something powerful is coming" on social media. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. A short animation accompanying Joswiak's teaser reveals a brief glimpse of a MacBook Pro along with the words "coming soon." The shape of the MacBook Pro is a V, which is the Roman numeral...
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...

Top Rated Comments

dguisinger Avatar
49 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
49 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
49 months ago
?

Won't happen here in the US anytime though. Apple pays Congress too well.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
senttoschool Avatar
49 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
49 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
49 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)