Payment app Toss, which is operated by Viva Republica Inc., unveiled its vision to expand its services into daily life and become a “super app” as it celebrates its 10th anniversary.

At a press conference in Seoul on Wednesday, Chief Executive Officer Lee Seung-gun outlined the Toss strategy for growth, emphasizing openness as key to its evolution. Instead of relying solely on in-house development, Toss will integrate partner and startup services into its platform. The company plans to release over 20 internal service tools, including its decision analysis platform and automated graphic design software, to external developers by June 2025.

Toss also announced plans to invest 1 trillion won ($697 million) over the next five years to support startups. It will offer not only financial backing but loans, marketing funds, and software resources as well to help them innovate.

Already dominant in the online financial sector, Toss is expanding into offline payments with its FacePay service, which uses facial recognition for transactions. FacePay will launch in GS25 convenience stores in March 2025 and expand to other chains.

To address security concerns, Toss will implement a compensation policy for fraud, including voice phishing and identity theft.

Toss Place payment terminals, which are key to Toss’s offline expansion, have surpassed 100,000 installations, although adoption remains low at just 6 percent of merchants. The company aims to boost adoption through FacePay.

Lee also revealed Toss’s global ambitions, with the company aiming for foreign users to comprise half of its total user base within five years. “Toss has unmatched customer loyalty among fintech services worldwide,” he said. “We are on track to become the global super app for finance.” However, he deferred commenting on a potential initial public offering in the U.S. market at this stage.

Lee also addressed recent allegations of regulatory favoritism, distancing Toss from the claims. “Toss is a regulated entity and it is not our place to comment on regulatory decisions,” he said. “Our role is to comply with their rulings.”

Founded in 2015, Toss revolutionized money transfers by eliminating the need for public authentication certificates. With features like one-won verification, simplified sign-ups, and free credit score checks, Toss now has over 28 million users.

Toss’s subsidiaries include Toss Bank Co., an internet-only bank with 11.5 million users, and Toss Securities Co., which has gained traction with low fees. Toss Securities now competes with Korea’s big securities firms in foreign stock brokerage commission revenue.

Reflecting on Toss’s first decade, Lee said, “We have pioneered innovation, scaled it, and reshaped the industry. Beyond our own growth, we have catalyzed change across various sectors.”

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