PayPal Invests in Korean Payment App Toss

Viva Republica, a Fintech startup that provides a P2P money transfer service called Toss, has received a $48 million investment from PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL), Goodwater Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Altos Ventures and Partech Ventures. Toss had previously raised $29 million in earlier funding.

The young company has experienced rapid growth having seen over 6 million app downloads and transfering over USD$ 3 billion. It is a natural fit for PayPal and its Venmo service as it seeks to expand grow operations around the world. Toss says it handles 10X the volume of transactions of all its domestic competitors combined. Toss has also partnered with 18 of Korea’s 19 major banks thus extending its reach to 98% of Korea’s banking customers. Viva Republica CEO, SG Lee, stated last year;

“We strive to give consumers the financial information and the freedom they need. Toss’ rapid adoption throughout Korea is testament to the fact that people are more than ready to embrace legitimate mobile solutions that simplify essential day-to-day financial activities. Our two latest products create an even more compelling and streamlined experience.”

Lee told TechinAsia;

“Mobile banking was and still is a major problem in Korea. Financial institution infrastructures are very outdated and cumbersome to use. For instance, it you want to transfer money using a bank app, you must go through at least seven screen changes, fill in seven to 10 fields, remember multiple passwords, have an OTP device with you” – that’s a dongle which gives you a one-time password – “and must have installed a personal authentication certificate onto your device.”

 



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