Going forward, Naver Pay, Kakao Pay, Toss, and other electronic financial service providers will also be able to use the government’s ‘resident registration card authenticity verification service’.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 9th that it signed a memorandum of understanding at Toss headquarters in Seocho-gu, Seoul, together with Naver Pay·Kakao Pay·Viva Republica (Toss), the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, to expand ‘resident registration card authenticity verification by electronic financial service providers’.

Until now, electronic financial service providers could only verify, on a limited basis, the validity of the name, resident registration number, and issuance date, excluding the photograph, during customer verification. There were limits to checking in real time whether a resident registration card had been forged or altered.

Recently, as the use of financial services via simple payments and simple remittances offered by electronic financial service providers has increased, methods of financial crime using forged or altered resident registration cards have also become more sophisticated. In particular, phone scam (voice phishing) rings frequently use counterfeit IDs to secure accounts under others’ names and move funds.

To block fraudulent acts, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety plans to enable electronic financial service providers to use, through the government system, authenticity verification that includes photo information from resident registration cards. Leveraging this agreement, it will enact the ‘Notice on the Use of the Resident Registration Card Authenticity Verification System’, include electronic financial service providers in the category of ‘financial institutions, etc.’ defined in resident registration statutes, and clearly set out the methods and procedures for verifying resident registration cards’ authenticity.

This year, using the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute’s financial network, a pilot will begin with Naver Pay·Kakao Pay·Toss. After verifying performance and stability together with the Financial Supervisory Service, the scope will be expanded from next year to electronic financial service providers that meet the eligibility criteria.

Yoon Ho-joong, Minister of the Interior and Safety, said, “This expansion of the resident registration card authenticity verification service will be an important turning point that protects the public from financial crimes such as phone scams and money laundering and enhances trust in the digital finance ecosystem.”