Naver, small business groups team up to bring facial-recognition payments to local bakeries

Naver and small business organizations have joined forces to bring facial-recognition payments and digital store management tools to neighborhood bakeries and small shops, in a push to help micro-merchants navigate the shift to digital operations — from payment terminals and sales data analytics to online promotion and financial support.

The Korea Federation of SMEs announced Tuesday that it signed an MOU with Naver, Naver Pay and the Korea Confectionery Industry Association on Monday to cooperate on digital transformation and mutual growth for small business owners. Under the agreement, the four organizations will support the rollout of Naver Pay's integrated offline terminal, Npay Connect, at member stores of the Korea Confectionery Industry Association and local small businesses affiliated with the federation.

Npay Connect supports multiple payment methods, including credit cards, QR codes, near-field communication and facial recognition. The terminal can also prompt customers to leave Naver reviews after a transaction, apply coupons and function as a mini kiosk.

The partnership will also leverage data to help small business owners make better management decisions. Participating merchants will have access to sales and payment data from Naver's Smart Place platform and Naver Pay, along with local commercial district data. Financial services and preferential benefits will be linked for businesses using the terminal.

The agreement extends Naver Pay's ongoing push into the offline payments market. In March, Naver Pay signed a deal with Retail & Insight to gradually deploy Npay Connect across more than 4,000 small and mid-sized supermarkets nationwide. The new MOU expands that effort to the bakery and confectionery sector and local small businesses more broadly.

The partners will also work to expand online sales channels. They plan to support the creation of promotional content using Clip, Naver's short-form video service, and will conduct training on digital payments and Smart Place operations through the Korea Confectionery Industry Association's education programs and the federation's nationwide regional network.

Digital payment infrastructure will also be provided at offline events hosted by the Korea Confectionery Industry Association, including the Seoul Bakery Festival and the International Bakery Fair, to help bakery and confectionery owners promote their products and reach new customers.

"Digital transformation is no longer a choice for small business owners — it is a critical factor that determines their survival and competitiveness," Korea Federation of SMEs Chairman Song Chi-young said. "Many small business owners struggle to adopt new technologies and services in their day-to-day operations due to cost burdens and a lack of specialized personnel."

Naver Pay CEO Park Sang-jin said the agreement was meaningful in building a cooperative framework that provides small business owners with wide-ranging support — spanning digital infrastructure, marketing, financial services and education programs. "We will continue to expand cooperation measures that can be felt on the ground," he added.