[Edaily Reporter Lee So-Hyun ] Naver (NAVER(035420)) is accelerating its push into the offline payment market. Leading with its integrated offline payment terminal, “Npay Connect,” the company has set a goal to expand the scale of Naver ID-based offline payments to 130 trillion won within five years. The strategy involves linking data accumulated from online search, shopping, and payment services with offline store payments to develop an artificial intelligence (AI) platform for merchants.
Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, stated during the Q2 2026 earnings call on the 7th, “In the second quarter, Naver rapidly expanded the installation of Npay Connect payment terminals and made a full-scale entry into the business-oriented AI platform sector by connecting offline data to the Naver ecosystem.”
Regarding the purpose of Npay Connect, CEO Choi explained, “It aims to extend the formula for success—based on search data, advertising, shopping, and payments—that Naver has built online into the offline world and to establish Naver’s physical presence on the ground.”
“Offline Data: A Moat in the AI Era”
Data is the driving force behind Naver’s move into the offline payment market. CEO Choi noted, “The offline commerce payment market is more than three times larger than the online market, but it has not yet been sufficiently digitized, and the data is unstructured,” adding, “It is a business opportunity with abundant growth potential and a strategic area we must prioritize.”
Naver has accelerated the rollout schedule for Npay Connect, which it had originally planned to implement in phases through next year. The company explained that the service is expanding rapidly, having secured more active merchant partners than expected just seven months after its launch.
CEO Choi emphasized, “This is because offline data is becoming a core asset that enhances the competitiveness of the entire Naver ecosystem,” adding, “As AI evolves beyond simply providing information and recommendations to understanding user intent and executing actual reservations, orders, and payments, offline behavioral data becomes a necessity rather than an option.”
Naver plans to combine search and reservation data from Naver Places, along with user IDs, payment, and membership data, with the offline data from Npay Connect. The vision is to connect the entire online-to-offline journey—from search to reservation, ordering, payment, and repeat visits—under a single ID.
CEO Choi said, “AI agents, including the Naver AI Tab, will provide more sophisticated personalized experiences and ensure a seamless user journey, while advertising will also become more sophisticated.”
Beyond Payment Terminals: An AI Platform for Businesses
Npay Connect is expanding beyond a simple payment terminal to become an AI platform for businesses. CEO Choi explained, “We intend to evolve Npay Connect beyond a simple payment terminal into a business agent that analyzes a merchant’s sales, visitor traffic, and changes in the commercial district, and even suggests next steps such as coupons and promotions.”
Naver plans to initially expand its reach to merchants by integrating Npay Connect with Place, and subsequently enhance customer relationship management (CRM), customer analytics, commercial district analysis, coupon and promotion management, and store operation tools. It will then expand its revenue streams to include financial brokerage services—such as loans and insurance—utilizing merchants’ sales and customer data, as well as advertising products based on offline visit and purchase conversion data.
CEO Choi said, “Just as Smart Store has become the foundation for online businesses, our goal is to provide offline businesses with a new AI business platform centered on Places and Npay Connect that offers integrated support for reservations, orders, payments, customer management, and marketing.”
Naver has also set a goal to rapidly expand the scale of its offline payments. CEO Choi explained, “By building one of the largest merchant networks in the country, we aim to become the undisputed No. 1 player in Korea next year in terms of combined online and offline B2C payment volume. Additionally, we aim to expand the scale of Naver ID-based offline payments to 130 trillion won within five years.”
He continued, “Once the initial foundation is established, cost burdens will gradually decrease, while related revenue opportunities—such as payments, advertising, merchant solutions, and finance—will expand rapidly.” He added, “We will secure merchant touchpoints and a data foundation early on and link them to various revenue models to quickly demonstrate profitability.”
Meanwhile, Naver posted its highest-ever quarterly revenue, recording 3.3888 trillion won in the second quarter—a 16.2% increase from the same period last year. However, operating profit decreased by 0.2% year-over-year to 520.3 billion won due to investments in AI infrastructure.
