First Data and INICIS Form Alliance for Processing in Korea

First Data International, a global leader in electronic commerce and payment services, and INICIS Co Ltd, a leading electronic payment gateway for e-commerce transaction processing services in Korea, today announced they formed a strategic alliance to offer merchant processing services to global, online merchants operating in Korea.

Making it easy for merchants to accept payments around the world, the First Data global acquiring solution, enhanced by the INICIS offering, empowers merchants with a global presence to accept payments for Internet purchases, through a single relationship, in most of the world’s major currencies.

Under the terms of the agreement, First Data and INICIS will provide on-line payment processing services to First Data’s global, e-commerce merchants in Korea. First Data will recruit new merchants and market the alliance’s services to the Korean affiliates of its global clients. INICIS will provide cardholder authentication and authorization clearing and settlement, funding, call center support and chargeback processing. In addition, after the transaction is cleared by INICIS, First Data will deliver merchant summary data to the global merchant. The agreement provides a differentiated approach for allowing global merchants to obtain real-time access to the constantly changing demands of Korean consumers.

Today’s announcement results from cooperation between First Data and INICIS to develop a joint, end-to-end solution, and in the future, further co-develop advanced e-commerce payment processing services. By collaborating on the technology, marketing and business levels, this agreement will allow both companies to drive new growth opportunities, transform online payment services, increase the scope of services available and reduce complexity for many global merchants.

"Korea has always been an attractive market for global eCommerce merchants, because of the market size, the sophistication of consumers and the widespread use of the Internet," said Nigel Lee, president, First Data International Asia. "This agreement is consistent with the Korean Government’s objectives of creating a dynamic Korea that is a financial and economic hub in Northern Asia, and we are honored to join INICIS in this venture. Their superior technology and service will enhance our overall product offering making a strong combined solution to eCommerce merchants throughout Korea."

"By combining our world-class payment processing services in Korea with First Data’s truly global reach and capability, we are able to offer global merchants a trusted and integrated end-to-end solution," said Jeon Soo Young, CEO of INICIS. "We look forward to working with First Data to provide an unrivalled merchant processing offering. Together we will invest in developing solutions that meet the demands of the Korean payment services industry, and we will enable global merchants to realize business benefits from this joint effort."