How coooool is that?
ㆍNamane card is an all-pass transportation card and simple payment system for visitors to Korea.
ㆍ‘i-Aurora’ caters to K-POP fans around the world with a service that allows anyone to make purchases without authentication and create their own personalized cards.
ㆍMaking fintech fun can help integrate it into the culture.
Are you traveling to Korea?
The first thing you should do is head to the kiosks located at airports and subways. Here, you can purchase a Namane card which allows tourists to easily ride public transportation and make payments at convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, and other places in Korea. This unique card was developed by a Korea-based fintech startup called i-Aurora, which specifically targets K-POP fans traveling to Korea from all over the world. The card comes with a card wallet in Korean won and a special service that allows users to easily pay for Korean content. It’s a one-of-a-kind card that you can personalize by putting your own photo on the front or by decorating it with photos of your favorite artists. The Namane card is very popular with Korean travelers as well as teenagers who love Korean culture.
No personal information verification
The card’s main feature is that it uses a “bearer authentication method”. However, it can be challenging for non-Koreans to create a card that can be used in Korea due to the strict ID verification process. In order to tackle this issue, i-Aurora has been authorized to issue prepaid cards without any special verification process. The manual for purchasing and using the card is simple and easy to follow. (again, Imgine that you are new to Korea and you stumble upon a kiosk.
1. Visit a Namane kiosk. First, you purchase a card. The card costs $5.24.
2. Design a custom card. Access a homepage that recognizes the QR code, choose a template, and personalize it with your own images and text.
3. Register your Namane card. After downloading the Namane app, tag your phone with the Namane card you want to register. (You can also enter your card number directly.) Once you’ve completed the online card registration, you can use the Namane app to pay at online stores.
4. To add funds to your card, you can use cash or credit cards. Our system accepts cards issued by Visa, Mastercard, JCB, and other well-known brands. Additionally, you can top up your card with various Southeast Asian payment methods, such as Alipay, Dana, TruMoney, Zcash, Touch & Go, and more. You can easily top up your card from the comfort of your home using our mobile app, so there is no need to go to a kiosk. Please note that the card must be fully loaded before it can be used.
5. Namane card can be used by anyone, regardless of country or age. You will be able to purchase items with your Namane card without any special authorization process, and pay for them freely in KRW without having to exchange.
Happy consumption!
Namane card was created to provide the joy of paying with a card that you customize yourself. i-Aurora is specifically focused on K-POP fandom-based financial services. Fans who love K-POP are now everywhere in the world. i-Aurora has devised a way for foreign fans to use the Namane card in their home countries, rather than just those visiting Korea. The company launched ‘Fandom Pay’ to allow fans to buy goods and consume content at K-POP artist performances and festivals outside of Korea. It is a simple payment service that utilizes Namane card’s payment network. This could be combined with the festival atmosphere to make consumption more ‘fun’. For example, if you go to a concert and need to buy a pom-pom, you can have fun authenticating and paying with your biometric signal rather than a physical card. While you’re mimicking a K-Pop artist’s dance moves, the vein pattern on your palm could be recognized and paid for. When buying a singer’s album, you might be asked to sing along to a single song to complete the payment via voice recognition. This is what it looks like when technology changes culture.
