Foreign User Research: Why (opens in new tab)
Toss investigated why many foreign users struggle to use Korea’s financial services, even after signing up. Research showed that confusing identity verification, name formatting, and address entry often prevented users from completing registration, forcing them to visit bank branches for routine tasks. By redesigning the name-entry and authentication process, Toss increased the foreign-user verification completion rate by about 15% and eliminated the gap with Korean users. ## Investigating Foreign Users’ Financial Experiences - Foreigners often perceive Korea’s banking system as complex and difficult to navigate without assistance. - Toss wanted to make its “finance for everyone” vision include foreign residents. - The team suspected that several verification steps caused users to abandon registration: - Preparing a foreigner registration card - Mismatches in telecom-provider information - One-won account verification - Difficulties entering names and personal details ## Field Research with Blue-Collar Workers - The team focused especially on blue-collar foreign workers, whose financial habits were less understood than those of students or white-collar workers. - Initial attempts to arrange factory interviews failed, so researchers visited the Siheung Industrial Complex during lunch hours. - Street interviews were difficult because formal clothing, identification badges, and consent documents made passersby cautious. - A more casual approach helped the team conduct several interviews. - Researchers later visited a multicultural center in Pocheon, where they met foreign residents from different countries and with varying lengths of stay. ## Why Foreign Users Rely on Bank Branches - Mobile banking often felt like a complicated system that users could access only after repeated trial and error. - Many users abandoned the process before reaching any financial-service features. ### Name Entry and Identity Verification - Users were unsure how to format their names: - Where to place spaces - Whether to enter family names first - Whether to match their foreigner registration card, bank account, or telecom records - A name such as “BRAD PITT” might need to be entered in an unexpected format, such as “BR AD.” - Some users repeatedly failed verification because their name format differed across institutions. - One participant had never successfully completed online identity verification under their own name in eight years. - Error messages rarely explained the actual cause of failure. - After five or more failed attempts, users could no longer continue. ### Address Entry - Entering Korean addresses was another major barrier, especially for users unfamiliar with typing Korean. - Users tried postal codes, English addresses, and lot numbers, then searched through address lists. - Search results often displayed too many options, making the correct address difficult to locate. - Repeated unsuccessful searches led some users to abandon registration and visit an offline branch instead. ## Improving the Authentication Funnel - Research identified name entry and authentication as the primary causes of foreign-user drop-off. - Toss’s product team redesigned the name-input structure and authentication flow. - The changes increased the foreign-user authentication completion rate by approximately 15%. - The completion-rate gap between Korean and foreign users was ultimately eliminated. Toss’s research demonstrates that inclusive financial services require understanding users who are often overlooked. Removing small but fundamental barriers in registration and authentication can make digital banking accessible to a much broader population.