Toss Signs Certificate Distribution Agreement with Korea Electronic Certification... Toss Authentication Surpasses 11 Million Cases

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Kim] Viva Republica, the operator of the mobile financial service Toss, announced on the 26th that it has signed a certificate distribution contract with Korea Electronic Certification and will officially enter the certification business.

Under this contract, Korea Electronic Certification will be responsible for supplying Toss certificates to institutions requiring certificates, such as financial companies and government agencies. Toss is expected to significantly expand the scope of its certification business, which has so far been centered on partner financial companies.

Toss began issuing certificates at the end of 2018 with Sh Suhyup Bank, and this year has consecutively signed contracts with major financial companies such as Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, The-K Non-Life Insurance, and KB Life Insurance, allowing their customers to use Toss certification when subscribing to products. As of this month, five financial companies have adopted Toss certificates, with a cumulative issuance of about 11 million certificates. An additional 2 to 3 financial companies are expected to adopt Toss certification next month.

Toss Certification is a service that allows users to easily complete identity verification through biometric authentication such as fingerprints or PIN numbers via the Toss application (app) without using separate IDs and passwords when subscribing to financial products. From the financial companies' perspective, they can attract Toss's 17 million customers as potential clients, and due to its simplicity with minimal steps compared to other certifications, its usage is rapidly increasing.

Toss was the first fintech company to obtain the highest grade of the international security certification ‘PCI DSS Level 1’ in 2017 and won the Presidential Award for Information Security in 2018, demonstrating its top-level security technology.

Its partner, Korea Electronic Certification, is the only global certification authority in Korea. Since the early 2000s, it has partnered with the global security company VeriSign and has been providing customized public key-based electronic signature services to major financial institutions and large corporations for the past 21 years.

Prior to this contract, Toss acquired a 5% stake in Korea Electronic Certification in April last year, and Korea Electronic Certification has participated as a shareholder (4% stake) in the third internet bank consortium led by Toss, strengthening the strategic relationship between the two companies.

Lee Seung-geon, CEO of Toss, stated, “In the certification business, through Toss’s advanced IT technology and innovative UX design, we will provide convenience to individual customers and new business opportunities and top-level security to institutions adopting certificates.”