Viva Republica, operator of Toss, is joining hands with Koryo Savings Bank and PFCT to advance loan screening for mid-to-low credit customers using alternative credit assessment information.

Toss said on Aug. 11 it signed a strategic partnership agreement on Aug. 10 with Koryo Savings Bank and PFCT to upgrade Koryo Savings Bank’s credit evaluation system using “Toss Score.”

Under the agreement, the three companies will develop a credit evaluation model tailored to Koryo Savings Bank and load it into PFCT’s real-time lending strategy operation solution.

The goal is to improve the accuracy of loan screening by using additional information on customers who are difficult to assess using only existing financial histories. They explained that developing a savings-bank-tailored credit evaluation model and linking it to a lending strategy operation solution is a first in the financial sector.

Toss Score is an alternative credit assessment score that Toss jointly developed with Korea Credit Data (KoDATA). It supplements existing credit information by using customers’ financial lifestyle data such as account transactions, card spending, and investment and insurance payment histories.

Toss will develop a credit evaluation model specialized for Koryo Savings Bank based on alternative information and Toss Score. PFCT will load the model into its real-time lending strategy operation solution, “Airpack-Studio,” to build a system for using alternative information, and Koryo Savings Bank plans to apply it to actual loan screening to provide loans.

Koryo Savings Bank plans to introduce Toss Score in phases from the second half of this year and expand the scope of its application. The three companies plan to continue cooperation to improve financial access for mid-to-low credit customers.

Hyun-ho Shin (신현호), vice president of Toss' financial business division, said, “We hope that customers who were disadvantaged in loan terms due to limited credit transaction records or low credit scores will be reassessed for repayment capacity using Toss alternative information and be able to use loans at interest rates that fit their circumstances.”