WHY WE CAME
16 AMS
‘Efficient travel is absolutely vital for us – another reason to be happy with Amsterdam as a location’
Danal CS&F The Korean market leader in direct-tomobile billing, Danal partnered with Dutch investment company CS&F in 2011 to bring its leading-edge technology and domain knowledge to Europe. In Danal’s home market of South Korea, two-thirds of all mobile phone subscribers actively use the company’s mobile payment service. Danal Korea has almost 50 per cent market share, having completed 14 mobile carrier integrations and signed up 12,000 online merchants to process in excess of $2 billion in transactions. Internationally, Danal now has partnerships with some of the world’s largest mobile operators, including Orange UK, Verizon Wireless and AT&T. In May 2010, Danal entered the US market with partners including Nexon, Perfect World, NHN and Gamepot to launch BilltoMobile. Danal also has market presence in China and Taiwan.
‘This is big business, but developments have only just begun. In Korea mobile payments account for a billion dollars’ worth of transactions each year. Yet most of these concern smaller consumptions. The potential uses are vast. Danal has a very strong proposition on what may prove to be one of the biggest future growth markets.’ MAINTAINING THE LEAD But in order to maintain its current head start, Danal needs to become a world player as soon as possible. Therefore the company decided to set up a joint venture with a local investment company in the US. Similar approaches have been taken for Europe and the rest of the undeveloped world. ‘Here [in the Netherlands] we have started a 50/50 partnership with the investment company CS&F. This means that we share the risks and we benefit from their local networks.’ Incorporated under Dutch law, ‘Danal CS&F BV’ is already fully integrated into Dutch business culture and networks – a relatively simple task, according to executive vice-president of operations, Hwal Song. ‘Despite the unmistakable cultural differences, there are many essential similarities between the business cultures of Korea and the Netherlands. Both countries are sandwiched between several dominant spheres of influence and have therefore positioned themselves as trading countries with a strong emphasis on service provision and international orientation. This is reflected in how we do business and in how we view markets. We share many similarities in that regard.’ Seven people work at Danal CS&F’s European head office at present (two of whom are Dutch), but Hwan Woo Chung expects this number to have doubled by the end of the year – an expansion that is much-needed because of the contracts already signed with providers in 20 different countries. ‘From Amsterdam, things are developing much faster than we expected,’ Chung adds. ‘We need multilingual people with backgrounds in sales and marketing in the telecom sector and specialists with contacts in the financial world.’ In the meantime, Chung is experiencing how important it is that Amsterdam Airport Schiphol is less than 15 minutes by taxi from his office. ‘I have to travel to destinations in Europe and further afield several times a week. Efficient travel is absolutely vital for us – another reason to be happy with Amsterdam as a location.’<