Toss Tops 400,000 FacePay Users, Accelerates Offline Innovation with Nationwide Expansion

• Announces the official launch of its facial-recognition payment service
• FacePay aims to lead the facial-recognition payment market with 100% domestic technology, backed by multi-layered security system and a compensation program for unauthorized transactions
• Building a “triple alliance” of FacePay, Apps-in-Toss, and Toss Place, setting a new standard for offline payments

Toss announced that its FacePay service has surpassed 400,000 subscribers and that it plans to expand nationwide within this year.

At a press briefing, Toss introduced its key technologies, pilot results, and future business strategy, while officially launching the facial-recognition payment service following several months of testing.

FacePay allows users to register their face and payment method in advance in the Toss app, then make payments simply by looking at a terminal in stores. Without needing to take out cash or a card, or even launch a mobile app, the terminal recognizes the user’s face and delivers a fast, convenient payment experience in just one second.

Since pilot operations began in March, FacePay has expanded to 20,000 merchants in Seoul within two months. As of August, cumulative subscribers have exceeded 400,000, with a monthly re-use rate of around 60%.

Toss plans collaborations with a wide range of brands, including convenience stores, cafes, restaurants, movie theaters, fashion, beauty, and electronics retailers, aiming to spread FacePay quickly across everyday life.

Over the past 10 years, Toss has transformed every financial moment—from easy money transfers and credit checks to loan comparisons, investments, banking, and securities—into something simple and convenient within its mobile platform. Now, with FacePay’s speed and seamless user experience, Toss is extending that innovation into offline payment environments.

“The biggest strength of Face Pay is that during the one second in which payment is completed, multiple security technologies operate simultaneously,” said Junho Choi, Technical Product Owner (TPO) leading FacePay development. “We will further advance the service so that identity verification and even age verification can be carried out naturally during the payment process, making the offline experience even simpler.”

Choi also emphasized that security is the top priority, alongside convenience. FacePay incorporates  multilayered security technologies, including liveness detection to verify real users, a facial recognition model resilient to appearance changes and capable of distinguishing similar faces, and a Fraud Detection System (FDS).

It is also the only facial-recognition payment technology in Korea that has undergone the Personal Information Protection Commission’s preliminary adequacy review. Toss, together with the Commission, established a plan for safely handling unique identifiers, facial identification information, and other data under the Personal Information Protection Act, and is operating the service after completing implementation checks.

In addition, all data is encrypted and managed in a network-segregated environment, and Toss plans to strengthen user trust by operating a compensation program that proactively reimburses users in the event of fraudulent payments.

The hardware preparations for FacePay expansion are also complete. Toss Place, Toss’s subsidiary that handles payment terminals and POS solutions, will lead terminal deployment. In addition to its existing flagship terminal, “Toss Front,” the company unveiled two new products at the event: “Toss Front View” and “Toss Front Cam,” expanding its lineup.

Toss Front is a universal terminal that supports all types of simple payments, including FacePay. Toss Front View supports FacePay by adding an extra device without replacing the existing payment terminal, while Toss Front Cam attaches to the top of kiosks, enabling FacePay in existing environments. These various options tailored to store conditions are expected to form the foundation for rapid expansion across industries and stores.

Toss is also combining this with Apps-in-Toss to take the payment experience one step further. Apps-in-Toss is an open platform in the form of an app-in-app structure that allows online stores to be built inside the Toss app. Users can search for stores, make reservations, and check benefits in Apps-in-Toss; pay in one second with FacePay on-site; and then continue on to automatic point accrual, coupon issuance, and return-visit reservations after payment.

“FacePay is more than just a payment method; it is a crucial link that changes the entire offline journey,” said Kyuin Oh, who leads Toss Pay. “By organically connecting Toss Place, which supplies terminals; Apps-in-Toss, which provides store-specific services; and Face Pay, we will unify the user’s offline payment experience.” He also said, “We have prepared for a long time, and we will do our best to make this a payment method that many users can trust and choose.”