Toss Bank Conducts First Financial Education for Foreign International Students at Internet Bank

Toss Bank:
"We Will Provide Innovative Finance Without Blind Spots
for All Customers"

▲Toss Bank conducted financial education for international students at its headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 21st. Photo by Toss Bank.

Toss Bank conducted financial education for foreign international students in South Korea. This initiative aims to enhance mobile financial accessibility and take the lead in preventing increasingly sophisticated financial crimes such as fraud. Toss Bank is the first internet bank to step up for the financial safety of foreign international students.

On the afternoon of the 21st, Toss Bank announced on the 24th that it held a financial education session for 22 foreign international students at the Toss Bank Lounge on the first floor of its headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. The session included government-sponsored foreign scholars (GKS) from the National Institute for International Education, with participants from diverse nationalities such as Paraguay, Uzbekistan, France, Brazil, T?rkiye, and India. The education covered a wide range of academic levels, from undergraduate language courses to bachelor's and master's programs.

The education was divided into two sessions. The first focused on essential banking tasks needed for university life, and the second on safe financial practices to protect oneself. The first session introduced how to use domestic internet banking and shared the most affordable and secure methods for currency exchange.

The second session addressed financial crimes that foreigners are easily exposed to through case studies. It included an example where an account was frozen after purchasing idol photocards, and covered prevention methods against voice phishing and smishing, as well as online currency exchange scams targeting international students.

The session was led by Joo-yeon Lee, manager of Toss Bank’s Financial Fraud Response Team. Toss Bank provided educational materials in both Korean and English and arranged interpreters to facilitate smooth understanding for participants. Additionally, a Q&A session was held to help students resolve actual financial concerns they had experienced.

Participating students responded, "It was very helpful informations, thanks." They also expressed hopes for future sessions, saying, "How to prevent frauds, scams, or do not get your account info leaked."

This education program was planned in response to the recent sharp increase in financial crimes targeting foreign international students in South Korea. According to the Financial Supervisory Service, the number of financial crime cases involving international students increased about ninefold from 2021 to 2023, with frequent incidents of currency exchange scams, voice phishing, and temptations of high-paying part-time jobs. In cooperation with the National Institute for International Education, Toss Bank is providing practical education on fraud prevention and safe financial living for foreign international students living in Korea.

The National Institute for International Education, affiliated with the Ministry of Education, has been operating a scholarship program inviting international students from 160 countries since 1967 to support degree acquisition. Approximately 2,000 foreign international students enter Korea annually through this institute.

Notably, this education coincided with the OECD International Financial Education Week (3/17?3/23), emphasizing the importance of financial education. A Toss Bank official stated,

"We plan to continuously support foreign international students so they can conduct their financial lives safely protected from financial fraud in Korea. Since Toss Bank’s value is to provide fair and equal innovative finance to all customers, we will continue to create financial services without blind spots."

Toss Bank has been operating various customized services to improve financial accessibility for foreign customers. It was the first domestic internet bank to introduce and operate a non-face-to-face account opening service for foreign customers and is also overcoming language barriers through a dedicated call center for foreigners.