Toss is making money, but it's not clear how much

Toss finally reported its first profit on a monthly basis in April, five years after it started as a peer-to-peer money transfer app.

But it declined to say how much it made.

Toss, which was developed by Viva Republica, said Thursday its sales has expanded by 35-fold over the past three years largely on commission income from partner businesses.

Its sales which stood at 3.4 billion won ($2.8 billion) in 2016 expanded to 118.7 billion won in 2019. It reports 17 million users as well.

It said 83 percent of the sales from last year was from business-to-business engagements. Toss introduces a diverse range of finance products, from credit cards to insurance, on its platform.

"Toss is expected to enter a growth trajectory as Korea’s finance industry has transitioned toward online and "untact" services this year with the shift expected to accelerate even more,” said Lee Seung-gun, founder and CEO of the fintech start-up.

“Toss, which started with a money transfer service, now offers more than 40 financial services.”

Toss is planning to expand its range of offerings. Viva Republica received a preliminary approval from the financial authority in March to establish its own brokerage house. The new service will start under the name Toss Securities in the latter half of the year.

It is also planning to open an internet-only bank next year, going head-to-head with K bank and Kakao Bank.

"Through profit secured from the Toss platform, the company will further support the internet-only bank, brokerage and payment gateway businesses," Lee said.

BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]