December 04, 2024

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Viva Republica headquarters in Seoul (Viva Republica)

Viva Republica, operator of the mobile financial service Toss, has been paving the way in shifting the dynamics of the traditional financial environment with its innovative services.

With the goal of providing a full range of financial solutions through a single super app, Toss, Viva Republica has introduced a wide array of cutting-edge services, from banking and brokerage to insurance and beyond.

Toss made its name in August 2021 by not charging commissions for transfers, a feat that shook up the local banking environment. Taking it a step further, the internet-only lender Toss Bank rolled out a zero-commission foreign exchange service in January.

In April 2022, Toss Securities introduced real-time overseas decimal stock trading, which allows investors to buy and sell overseas stocks in decimal format. It was the first local brokerage house to introduce such a service and has garnered more than 1.5 million cumulative users in two years.

Backed by groundbreaking features and consumer-oriented services, the fintech company has been yielding solid results.

Viva Republica posted 10.9 billion won ($7.8 million) in consolidated operating profit and 3.9 billion won in net profit in the third quarter. Its revenue soared 47.5 percent year-on-year to 502.1 billion won, marking the company's highest quarterly figure.

The upbeat earnings were buoyed by the growth of Toss Securities. The brokerage arm reported 29.6 billion won in operating profit in the third quarter, marking an eightfold increase from the same period last year.

Toss Securities attributed the surge in profit to growth in its overseas securities trading services. Commission profit from overseas securities rose by 165.4 percent, and currency conversion profit surged by 133.2 percent in the third quarter on-year.

Founded in 2013, Viva Republica has been rapidly expanding its footprint in both the financial and non-financial domains. Under its wings are an insurance affiliate Toss Insurance, payment gateway Toss Payments, brokerage arm Toss Securities, internet-only lender Toss Bank, tax accounting service provider Toss Income and research center Toss Insight.

With sharp growth in overseas securities trading, Toss Securities established its US subsidiaries Toss Securities Americas and TSA Financial in August. The US units are due to begin the regulatory process of registering as broker-dealers in the local market.

Viva Republica initially planned to list on the Korean stock market within the next year. It dropped the Kospi listing scheme in October, however, presumably due to concerns that the fintech company could be undervalued on the local bourse.

Instead, it has pivoted toward a market debut in the US. Having sent a request for proposal to global investment banks, the company expects the listing process to take one to two years.

Toss is expected to weigh in at over 10 trillion won, considering it was valued at around 9 trillion won in the last round of Series G investments in 2022.

“By creating social value through innovation in financial platforms, Toss has been contributing to the creation of a virtuous cycle in the financial ecosystem,” the company explained.

“Utilizing the characteristics of a platform, Toss maximizes efficiency for financial market players in diverse ways, providing convenience for consumers, profitability for financial institutions, consumer protection and maintenance of the financial regime for the government.”

By Im Eun-byel (silverstar@heraldcorp.com)