South Korea: Naver Pay Wins Country’s First Global Biometric Data Certificate for Face Pay
Naver Pay, one of South Korea’s biggest mobile wallets, says it is the first company in the country to earn an international certificate for how it protects users’ biometric data. The award covers the systems behind Face Sign, its face-scan payment and login service. It arrives as Naver tries to catch up with rival Toss in a race to make paying with your face an everyday habit.
Key facts
- Naver Pay has obtained ISO/IEC 24745:2022, a global standard for protecting biometric information. According to Korea’s Yonhap news agency, it is the first company in South Korea to do so.
- Naver Pay announced the award on 4 November. The certificate was issued by LRQA, a British certification body, and handed over at Naver’s headquarters in Seongnam, near Seoul.
- It covers Naver Pay’s biometric protection framework, including the systems that run Face Sign.
- Naver Pay says Face Sign uses AI-based anti-spoofing to spot fake faces, and that it has added post-quantum cryptography to protect data moving across its services.
What the certificate does, and does not, cover
ISO/IEC 24745 is written by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). It sets rules for how a company collects, stores, sends and deletes biometric data such as face templates. It also checks the safeguards and internal policies around that data. According to Yonhap, Naver Pay says Face Sign was designed to protect personal data at every stage, from capture to deletion.
The certificate is about data protection. As the trade publication Biometric Update points out, it does not on its own certify how accurate the face matching is, or how well it resists spoofing attempts such as photos or masks. Naver says its own AI model handles that second job. Post-quantum cryptography means encryption designed to stay secure even against future quantum computers, which could one day break today’s common encryption methods.
Why it matters
South Korea is one of Asia’s busiest test markets for face payments. Shoppers there already pay by phone, card or QR code, so a new method has to be both easier and clearly safe. Biometric data is especially sensitive: a leaked password can be changed, but a face cannot. A recognised outside audit gives Naver something concrete to show cautious users, merchants and regulators.
The certificate also has a competitive edge. Biometric Update reports that Toss, run by Viva Republica, leads the market with face-payment terminals at around 500,000 merchant locations, against roughly 100,000 for Naver’s Connect network. It also reports that Naver is offering up to 10% back in points for purchases paid by face through Connect terminals. Both firms are subsidising terminals to win over shops.
Face Sign is also moving beyond the checkout. Naver has linked it to Smartpass, the face-based departure system at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, and has used it for entry at university festivals and company events.
The trend is reaching South-east Asia too. In Malaysia, AEON Credit recently launched FacePay, letting AEON Wallet users pay at self-checkouts in Kuala Lumpur with a face scan. As more wallets in the region try this, outside checks on how face data is handled, like the one Naver now has, may become something customers and regulators expect to see.
What to watch
- Whether Naver’s certificate and cashback offers help it close the gap with Toss in merchant terminals.
- Whether Korean regulators or other wallets make independent biometric audits a common market practice.
- How fast face payment spreads to more large venues, such as stadiums and concert halls, in Korea and across Asia.
Related on FinDeskAsia: AEON Credit Launches FacePay, Letting KL Shoppers Pay for Groceries With a Face Scan · South Korea: Kakao Pay Doubles Q3 Profit as In-Store Payments Jump 44%
Sources: Yonhap News Agency (November 2026) · Biometric Update (November 2026)
