Exclusive: Woori Bank, Samsung Electronics link Samsung Wallet Money to Mastercard network in 220-plus countries

Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics are moving to expand their Samsung Wallet Money mobile payment service worldwide by tapping Mastercard's global payment network, which spans more than 220 countries. Local QR payment networks will handle transactions in China and other parts of Asia, while the Mastercard network will cover North America, Europe, Japan and the rest of the world. With Mastercard joining as a core pillar for overseas payments, the two companies have now secured the final piece of their global payment network strategy.

Financial industry sources say Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics are currently integrating their systems with Mastercard to launch an overseas payment service through Samsung Wallet Money. The key step involves assigning a virtual Mastercard number to Samsung Wallet Money and linking it to the global payment network. The exact launch date will be confirmed after further consultations among Samsung Electronics, Woori Bank and the global payment provider.

Samsung Wallet Money is a prepaid mobile payment service that links a bank account to Samsung Wallet, allowing users to top up, transfer and pay in one place. Samsung smartphone users can load funds, withdraw and make payments without applying for a separate physical card. The overseas payment service marks a milestone reached roughly one year after Woori Bank was selected in October 2025 as the sole operator of the service.

The core of the collaboration is connecting Samsung Wallet Money — currently usable only at domestic merchants — to overseas payment networks. The companies are preparing a system in which loaded Korean won balances are converted into local currency and deducted at the point of sale, with no separate travel card or physical credit card required.

Once the service launches, users will be able to pay at Mastercard-affiliated merchants in North America, Europe and Japan by tapping their Galaxy smartphones against card terminals. Samsung Electronics stands to deepen user loyalty within the Galaxy ecosystem by offering greater convenience for overseas payments, while Woori Bank expects to expand its foreign-exchange business by capturing currency conversion and settlement demand.

Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics are pursuing a multi-track strategy tailored to each country's payment environment. In China, where QR payments are dominant, the two companies are in final talks with Tencent — China's largest IT company — to link Samsung Wallet Money to the WeChat Pay QR network. Under that arrangement, scanning a merchant's WeChat Pay QR code through Samsung Wallet would deduct the equivalent amount in local currency from the user's won balance.

In Japan, North America and Europe, where card payments still account for a large share of transactions, the service will rely on Mastercard's or Visa's global payment networks. The Mastercard tie-up is seen as completing the final piece of the puzzle, giving Samsung Wallet Money coverage across the world's major payment markets. Mastercard supports payments in more than 150 currencies across over 220 countries and territories.

The market also expects Samsung Wallet Money's overseas push to reshape the competitive landscape in the card and fintech industries. Travel cards — which bundle currency exchange, overseas payments and ATM withdrawals into a single physical card — have become a staple for international travelers, and Samsung Wallet Money is now challenging that market by offering cardless overseas payments.

Woori Bank and Samsung Electronics also plan to use the WeChat Pay integration as a springboard to forge partnerships with major local payment providers across Southeast Asia. Naver Pay and Kakao Pay are likewise rapidly growing their overseas payment volumes in Asian markets where QR payments are widespread, pointing to intensifying competition among mobile payment providers.

"As payments that directly link bank accounts to smartphones become more common, change in the existing payment structure centered on card companies and payment gateway providers will be inevitable," a financial industry official said. "Card companies and the fintech industry will be keeping a close eye on Samsung Wallet Money's overseas expansion."