Toss Expands Its Reach, This Time Acquiring a Budget Mobile Carrier Business

MVNO 'Meocheondeu Korea' Acquires 100% Stake
"Targeting Market with Convenient Sign-up and Optimal Plans"

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Toss, which acquired mobility company Tada last year, has now purchased a budget phone operator. This appears to be a strategy to expand its presence in various daily life services and increase its connection with finance.

Viva Republica, the operator of the comprehensive financial platform Toss, announced on the 21st that it has signed a contract to acquire 100% of the shares of the budget phone operator (MVNO) 'Merchant Korea.'

Accordingly, Toss plans to offer budget phone subscription services through its application (app). The aim is to innovate the entire process from exploring budget phone plans to activation and to provide opportunities to reduce communication costs.

'Merchant Korea,' an auditor member of the Korea Budget Phone Telecommunications Operators Association, has operated telecommunications business for about 20 years since its establishment in 1998. It was selected as LG Uplus's first budget phone operator. Currently, it has contracts with all three major telecom companies.

The domestic budget phone market, which opened in 2011, has steadily grown to surpass 10 million subscribers as of last year. There are currently about 70 budget phone operators. However, this accounts for only about 14% of the total mobile communication market subscribers, and about half of these are Internet of Things (IoT) lines rather than mobile phones. Toss judged that the potential for growth among individual customers is large and decided to invest.

Toss views convenient subscription procedures, optimal plans, and the recognition of operating companies as key factors for market expansion, given the online nature of budget phone subscriptions. In the future, Toss plans to actively apply the Toss certificate during the budget phone subscription process by utilizing its status as a personal identification institution and electronic signature certification operator. Jang Minyoung, Toss’s business strategy lead, emphasized, "Just as Toss has saved customers’ time and costs and created social value through financial services, we aim to resolve inconveniences for budget phone subscribers and contribute to reducing communication costs for Toss customers."