Naver Corp., South Korea’s top portal operator, said Monday it is considering launching a mobile wallet system through its social networking service BAND in the near future, following its bigger local rival Kakao Corp. releasing a similar service later this year. “It is true that we are reviewing (the service), but nothing, including whether we will actually launch it or when it will happen, has been decided yet,” an official from Naver said.

Industry sources earlier said the BAND service is considering forging a deal with Yellow Mobile, a local operator of financial transaction services, to allow users to transfer small amounts of cash. Naver also operates free-messenger service LINE, but BAND is focused more on group interaction.

The move comes as Kakao plans to launch Bank Wallet Kakao, a mobile platform than supports small-sum financial transactions and mobile payments, in the second half. (Yonhap)