[Provided by Toss]
[Provided by Toss]

Toss Payments, the payment gateway subsidiary of fintech firm Toss, announced Friday it has been selected as the preferred negotiating partner for the "deposit token-based payment infrastructure expansion project," part of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency's "Blockchain Innovation Pioneer Project."

A deposit token is a digital representation of a bank deposit on a blockchain, issued on a one-to-one basis. It preserves the stability and regulatory framework of conventional deposits while offering the technical benefits of blockchain — including 24-hour real-time settlement and smart contracts, which automatically execute agreements when preset conditions are met.

The project is a government-led pilot aimed at reducing payment processing fees for small merchants. The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute is organizing it under cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Finance and the Bank of Korea, with a private consortium of nine banks, eight payment gateway companies and two large-scale demand partners. At its core, the project extends into a real-world commercial payment environment the deposit token pilot experience — built on institutional CBDC — validated through the Bank of Korea's "Project Han River."

The infrastructure to be built under the project is designed so that merchants can accept deposit token payments through their existing payment networks without replacing terminals or developing new systems. Users will be able to pay with deposit tokens through a bank-provided digital wallet app in the same way they already make payments. Toss Payments will serve as the payment gateway responsible for building this merchant integration framework.

Once deposit token payments are commercialized, processing fees borne by small merchants are expected to fall. Because deposit tokens transfer funds simultaneously with the transaction, settlement cycles — which previously took roughly one to three days — are expected to shorten to near-instant settlement. This is expected to meaningfully improve cash flow for small merchants, for whom liquidity turnover is critical.

Toss Payments completed a project launch briefing with the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Internet & Security Agency in June, then held a joint inaugural ceremony with relevant agencies on Wednesday before beginning full-scale pilot operations in the second half of the year. The company plans to coordinate detailed schedules and development tasks with participating institutions going forward.

Min Woo Lee, executive vice president at Toss Payments, said new payment technology takes hold only when merchants do not have to change anything. "We will focus on creating an environment where deposit tokens can be adopted by merchants without any burden, drawing on the payment infrastructure experience we have built up," he said.


won@heraldcorp.com