Expanding Merchant Partnerships to 300,000 by Year-End, 1 Million by 2026
100% Korean Technology... The Only Service Approved by the Personal Information Protection Commission
Accelerating Market Leadership Ahead of Competitors Like Shinhan Card
The number of subscribers to Toss's facial recognition payment service, "Toss FacePay," has surpassed 400,000 within just six months of its pilot operation. Toss plans to expand its merchant network to 300,000 stores this year and 1 million stores next year, aiming to strengthen its leadership in the offline facial recognition payment market ahead of competitors such as Shinhan Card and Naver Pay.
Vice President Kyuin Oh of Toss is making a presentation at the Toss FacePay press conference held at SJ Kunsthalle in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 2nd. Toss Photo by Toss
On September 2, Toss held a press conference at SJ Kunsthalle in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, to officially announce the launch of FacePay. During the event, the company introduced key technologies, pilot operation results, future business strategies, and also unveiled its dedicated terminal lineup.
FacePay is a service that allows users to register their face and payment method in the Toss application, enabling payments at stores simply by looking at the terminal. The terminal recognizes the user's face and completes the payment in just one second, eliminating the need to take out a card or cash or launch a mobile app.
The adoption rate is also rapid. Just two months after the pilot operation began in March, FacePay was introduced at 20,000 stores in Seoul, and as of last month, the cumulative number of subscribers exceeded 400,000. The monthly reuse rate is about 60%.
Toss plans to significantly expand its merchant partnerships, aiming to roll out FacePay to 300,000 stores nationwide by the end of this year and 1 million stores by next year. The goal is to establish a new standard for offline payments, going beyond simply distributing terminals. Toss has also announced plans to collaborate with a wide range of industries, including convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, movie theaters, and fashion, beauty, and electronics stores.
Junho Choi, Technical Product Owner (TPO) of Toss, is presenting at the Toss FacePay press conference held on the 2nd at SJ Kunsthalle in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Toss
Toss Place, a subsidiary of Toss specializing in payment terminals and point-of-sale (POS) solutions, is responsible for distributing the terminals. At the event, Toss unveiled two new devices, "Toss Frontview" and "Toss Frontcam," expanding its lineup alongside the existing flagship terminal, "Toss Front." By offering a variety of options tailored to different store environments, Toss aims to accelerate the adoption of FacePay.
"Toss Front" is a universal terminal that supports all types of simple payments, including FacePay. "Frontview" allows stores to support FacePay by simply adding the device without replacing existing terminals, while "Frontcam" can be attached to the top of kiosks, enabling service use in existing environments.
In addition to distributing payment terminals, Toss also introduced an open platform called "App in Toss." Through App in Toss, users can search for stores, make reservations, and check benefits within the Toss app, and make payments in just one second with FacePay at the store. After payment, the platform automatically links to point accumulation, coupon issuance, and repeat visit reservations.
Kyuin Oh, Vice President overseeing Toss's simple payment business, stated, "FacePay is more than just a payment method; it is a crucial link that transforms the entire offline journey." He added, "By organically combining Toss Place, which distributes terminals, App in Toss, which provides store-specific services, and FacePay itself, we will seamlessly connect users' offline payment experiences."
From the left, three types of Toss FacePay terminals: Toss Frontview, Toss Front, Toss Frontcam. Toss
Security has also been further enhanced. Junho Choi, Technical Product Owner (TPO) leading the development of FacePay, said, "Multiple security technologies operate simultaneously during the one-second payment process with FacePay," and added, "We will further advance the system so that identity verification and age authentication are naturally integrated, making the payment experience even more streamlined."
FacePay is equipped with a variety of security technologies, including "liveness" detection to verify that the user is a real person, a "facial recognition model" to detect facial changes, and an FDS to detect abnormal transactions. It is also the only facial recognition payment service to have passed the preliminary adequacy review by the Personal Information Protection Commission.
To ensure the safe handling of personal information, Toss has established management measures in cooperation with the commission and is operating the system after implementation checks. All data is encrypted and managed in a network-segregated environment, and a proactive compensation system is in place in the event of fraudulent payments.
A Toss representative emphasized, "FacePay's security technology is 100% domestically developed," and added, "We will continue to expand the service based on an environment where users can feel completely secure."
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