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Toss Invests in Kiosk Maker Beaver Works… Accelerating 'Face Pay' Market Dominance

[비즈한국] It has been confirmed that Viva Republica, the operator of the Toss application (app), has acquired a stake in the kiosk company Beaver Works. The investment is intended for collaboration with Beaver Works. Viva Republica has recently been putting significant effort into marketing its facial recognition payment service, ‘Face Pay.’ By integrating Face Pay into Beaver Works kiosks, the market influence of the service could increase substantially. With Naver recently launching ‘Face Sign,’ a service similar to Face Pay, attention is focused on whether Face Pay will succeed in expanding its market share.

According to Bizhankook’s investigation, Viva Republica invested in a 1.8% stake in Beaver Works last June. Beaver Works is a company specializing in food service and unmanned retail solutions, with its primary products being kiosks and table-order systems. Given the increasing number of restaurants adopting kiosks, the outlook for Beaver Works is considered positive. Beaver Works is known to hold the top market share in the kiosk industry.

Viva Republica explained that the reason for the equity investment in Beaver Works was to strengthen business cooperation and partnerships. Viva Republica launched the ‘Face Pay’ feature in September. Face Pay is a service that allows payments using only facial recognition. When using Face Pay, users register their face once after verifying their identity in the Toss app, after which they can conveniently make payments using their preferred method, such as a credit card, debit card, or bank account.

Viva Republica operates a payment terminal business through its affiliate, Toss Place. Toss Place is expanding its footprint by integrating the Face Pay function into its terminals. Viva Republica aims to implement the Face Pay feature into large kiosks installed in fast-food restaurants, cafes, and other venues. As Beaver Works supplies kiosks to numerous stores, collaboration with them is essential for Viva Republica.

A Viva Republica official stated, "We formed this partnership to expand the number of merchants capable of using Face Pay by distributing Toss Place’s Front Cam equipment to stores that use Beaver Works kiosks," adding, "Our goal is to rapidly spread Toss's facial payment ecosystem to offline stores through this effort." Front Cam is a camera device designed for Face Pay that functions by connecting to kiosks.

The fintech industry is currently engaged in fierce competition in the offline payment market. For example, Naver began commercializing its facial payment service, ‘Face Sign,’ in March. In September, it also launched a beta service for its integrated payment terminal, ‘Naver Pay Connect.’ Naver Pay Connect allows for the use of all types of payment methods, including cash, cards, QR codes, Samsung Pay, NFC, and Face Sign.

Since the nature of Face Pay and Face Sign is similar, market preemption is crucial for both Viva Republica and Naver. An IT industry official explained, "From a store's perspective, they likely won't change their terminals or payment systems frequently unless there is a significant defect," adding, "Even if they aren't generating massive profits right now, securing market share can lead to consistent long-term returns."

Viva Republica and Beaver Works are in the early stages of cooperation, and specific results have not yet emerged. With Naver signaling the official launch of Naver Pay Connect integrated with the Face Sign feature in the near future, it is assessed that Viva Republica also needs to speed up its efforts to capture the market.

A Viva Republica official stated, "Toss Place is cooperating with various partners regarding offline payments and store operations," adding, "We intend to continue creating cooperative models that provide higher value to small business owners by adding Toss Place's technology to Beaver Works' solutions."