Kakao Corp., South Korea’s leading mobile messenger service provider, said Tuesday its new mobile payment system “Kakao Pay” gained more than 500,000 users less than three weeks after its launch on Sept. 5.

“The number of subscribers for Kakao Pay is increasing by 20,000 users per hour, which is equivalent to six users per second, a surprising growth speed,” the company said in its news release, disclosing that 170,000 users joined the service on Monday alone.

“The speed is set to accelerate even further in October, when the number of affiliated stores grows in earnest,” it added.

Registered users of Kakao Pay need only their passwords to make payments, providing a shortcut compared to other mobile shopping platforms that require complicated ID authentication processes blamed for discouraging overseas shoppers who want to buy from South Korean online malls. The service is similar to Paypal, which has widely been adopted by global e-commerce sites. (Yonhap)