Naver Pay, Kakao Pay and Toss to offer real-time ID verification to combat voice phishing

Users of Naver Pay, Kakao Pay and Toss will soon be able to verify the authenticity of their resident registration cards in real time, a move authorities say will significantly reduce financial crimes such as voice phishing that exploit forged or altered ID documents.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety announced Thursday that it had signed an MOU on expanding resident registration card verification with the Financial Supervisory Service, the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute, Naver Pay, Kakao Pay and Toss (Viva Republica). The signing ceremony, held that afternoon at Toss's Sinnonhyeon office in Seoul, was attended by Minister of Interior and Safety Yun Ho-jung, FSS Director Lee Chan-jin, Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute Director Chae Byeong-deuk, Naver Pay CEO Park Sang-jin, Kakao Pay CEO Shin Won-geun and Toss CEO Lee Seung-gun, among other officials.

The resident registration card verification service works by cross-checking ID information a customer submits through an app against the Ministry of Interior and Safety's issuance database. Previously, the system could only verify text-based details — name, resident registration number and issuance date — on a limited basis, making it difficult to detect forgeries or alterations in real time. Going forward, the service will also compare the photo registered on the card, substantially improving identification accuracy.

Electronic financial service providers had long been restricted to checking only the validity of a customer's name, resident registration number and issuance date — with the photo excluded — leaving them unable to confirm in real time whether a card had been forged or altered.

As use of simple payment and remittance services offered by electronic financial providers has surged in recent years, financial crimes exploiting forged IDs — including voice phishing, account takeovers in another person's name and concealment of criminal proceeds — have grown increasingly sophisticated. A key vulnerability was that counterfeit IDs were difficult to detect without a QR scanner, the government's resident registration verification service or a call to the 1382 hotline. Calls have grown louder for stronger identity verification systems in electronic financial services.

After reviewing relevant laws and regulations, the Ministry of Interior and Safety decided to extend photo-matching capabilities through its government system to electronic financial service providers, with the aim of blocking fraud through forged or altered ID documents at the source.

Under the agreement, the Ministry of Interior and Safety will provide the system and policy support, while the FSS will handle security checks and oversight. The Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute will serve as an intermediary managing system connectivity, and Naver Pay, Kakao Pay and Toss plan to complete API integration and development and launch the service within the year. Starting next year, the program will expand to other qualified electronic financial service providers.

"This expansion of the resident registration card verification service will be an important turning point in protecting the public from financial crimes such as voice phishing and money laundering, and in strengthening trust in the digital financial ecosystem," Minister Yun said. "The Ministry of Interior and Safety will continue to link public identity verification infrastructure with the private sector to create an environment where people can use digital financial services with confidence," he added.

Toss CEO Lee Seung-gun said the agreement would "raise the safety and reliability of the non-face-to-face financial environment to a new level," adding that "Toss will continue to work closely with the government to build an environment where customers can use financial services with greater peace of mind."