Paying for electricity is now possible via KakaoTalk

Paying utility bills including electricity with no bound on time and place has been made possible via Korea-based mobile messenger KakaoTalk.

On Friday, Kakao released "KakaoPay Bill," an Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) service based on the mobile messenger. People can use KakaoPay Bill without having to install a separate application if KakaoTalk is installed in mobile phone. After pressing in order "View More," "Pay" and "Bill," people can sign in for the service and apply for notification (English version is not available yet). By pressing "View Bills," people can find detailed charges and payment statements as well as monthly payments just like paper bills. If you want to pay charges, use KakaoPay or click "Pay" after typing in your card information in "Registered Cards," which is linked in the bill sent via KakaoTalk.

Those who are currently receiving paper bills can still make payments with KakaoPay by pressing "QR Payment" on the screen and scanning the QR code on paper bill.

KakaoPay also provides a notification function, which informs customers of their payment date two days ahead.

At the moment, Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) is the only partner company with KakaoPay. Kakao is preparing to have more partnerships with telecommunications companies and city gas providers.

Kakao received approval for using KakaoPay for the EBPP business from the Financial Supervisory Service in July last year.

"For users of KakaoPay, which is combined with KakaoTalk, managing various bills and making payment will become much easier and safer," said Vice President Ryu Young-joon in charge of Kakao Fin-tech Business. "KakaoPay will also help organizations and companies who send bills save their expenses by 50 percent in comparison to sending paper bills."

KakaoPay provides five fin-tech services, including "Easy Card Payment," "Automatic Card Payment," "Easy Mobile Phone Payment," and "Membership." As of now, the number of KakaoPay users has reached 7 million, and the number of card payment member stores is 570.

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