'3 Days to Abolish Public Certification' Toss Certificate Surpasses 23 Million Issuances

'Highlighting Convenience and Stability' Rapid Increase in Usage

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Viva Republica, the operator of the mobile financial service Toss, announced on the 7th that the cumulative issuance of the 'Toss Certificate' has surpassed 23 million.

The Toss Certificate is a service that allows users to easily authenticate using biometric verification such as fingerprint or PIN number through the Toss application (app) not only for using Toss but also when subscribing to financial institution products. From the financial companies' perspective, they can attract Toss's 18 million customers as potential clients, and due to its simplicity with minimal steps compared to other authentication methods, its usage is rapidly increasing.

In fact, at the end of last September, the cumulative issuance of Toss Certificates was 17 million, but it increased by 6 million in just two months, surpassing 23 million in early December. This figure corresponds to 51% of the domestic economically active population of 44.5 million (aged 15-64, based on the end of 2019).

The Toss Certificate started issuing certificates at Suhyup Bank at the end of 2018, and recently has signed contracts with major financial companies including SC First Bank, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Hana Insurance, and KB Life Insurance, providing Toss Certificate services for simple authentication and electronic signatures when subscribing to their products.

Besides simplicity, the Toss Certificate features the use of a virtual identification method for personal information during simple authentication, which is the same as the public certificate, enhancing security to the highest level and eliminating the possibility of forgery or tampering.

Toss expects that even if the distinction between public certificates and private certificates disappears due to the amendment of related laws on the 10th of this month, institutions requiring the highest level of security such as government and financial institutions will adopt certificates at the same level as existing public certificates. Toss plans to target the related market through authentication technology with the same specifications in the future.

CEO Lee Seung-geon emphasized, “Through the simple yet secure Toss Certificate, our goal is to provide new customer experiences and business opportunities not only for Toss but also for customers of institutions adopting the certificate,” adding, “We plan to continue expanding the supply of Toss Certificates to public institutions and the financial sector by acquiring the status of electronic signature certification service provider newly established by the amendment of the Electronic Signature Act.”