"Properly Assessing Business Owners' Creditworthiness": Toss Lowers Lending Barriers with Woori Financial Savings Bank

[Financial News] Toss, operated by Viva Republica, is joining forces with Woori Financial Savings Bank to expand inclusive finance.
On the 28th, Toss said it will launch "VitaWON BIZ," a credit loan product exclusively for sole proprietors, in partnership with Woori Financial Savings Bank, using Toss Soho Score. This is the first loan product among savings banks affiliated with the four major financial holding companies to adopt Toss Soho Score. The two companies plan to continue data-driven financial cooperation, starting with this product launch.
VitaWON BIZ is a non-face-to-face credit loan product for sole proprietors sold exclusively through Toss. Its key feature is a more refined screening system that combines Woori Financial Savings Bank's existing personal credit evaluation system with Toss's alternative credit assessment model, Toss Soho Score.
Toss Soho Score is a credit evaluation model for sole proprietors developed by Toss and Korea Rating & Data, or KODATA. Rather than relying only on past credit transaction records, it brings scattered financial information together in one place and reflects how a business owner actually earns, spends, and manages money. In other words, it helps identify more precisely the businesses that may not stand out on paper but still have the capacity to repay.
Sole proprietors often have irregular monthly income, and the way they record financial transactions differs from that of salaried workers, so they have frequently been evaluated poorly under existing credit review systems. The idea is to use Toss Soho Score to widen the path to loan approval for business owners who have struggled to clear the lending threshold.
If a borrower receives a high rating under Toss Soho Score, they may qualify for a lower interest rate than under the existing screening criteria, easing the burden of interest payments. By lowering barriers for sole proprietors who have had difficulty accessing finance, the product is seen as an example of greater inclusiveness in retail finance. It can be accessed through the Toss app's credit loan comparison service, "Find a Credit Loan."

[email protected] Lee Hyun-jung Reporter