Apple will permit the use of third-party payment methods in South Korean applications.

Apple will permit the use of third-party payment methods in South Korean applications.

The tech giant stated in a developer update that app developers in Apple’s South Korean App Store are no longer required to use the company’s in-app payment mechanism.

Now that Apple has pre-approved third-party service providers, developers can accept money through them.

The revision to South Korea’s Telecommunications Business Act, which was passed last year and forbids major platform owners like Google and Apple from requiring developers to use their first-party in-app payment systems, is what prompted the change. Both Google and Apple opposed the proposal, with Apple claiming that it would make it more difficult for its consumers to control their purchases, compromise their privacy rights, and expose them to fraud.

Notably, the lucrative commission that Apple charges developers to use its in-app payment mechanism is threatened by the regulation. The so-called “Apple tax” represents roughly 30% of the user’s purchase price. There have been numerous developer concerns centred on this Apple charge.

Apple still wants to take a 26 percent commission from payments made through third-party systems, despite South Korea’s requirement that it permit developers to utilise alternative payment systems.

The “StoreKit External Purchase Entitlement,” which is only accessible to apps published exclusively in South Korea, must be requested by interested developers by submitting a form to Apple in order to use third-party payment systems.