Toss, a simplified mobile money transfer app developed by South Korean fintech startup Viva Republica, won the top prize at this year’s Google Play App Awards for the Korean market.

Every year, Google’s mobile app store operator recognizes outstanding apps in various categories ranging from lifestyle and commerce to finance and games.


Among the 34 games and 40 other apps selected by Korea’s Google Play this year, Toss was recognized as the Best App of 2016 in Korea during a ceremony held in Seoul on Tuesday evening.

Introduced in February 2015, Toss enables users to transfer money to other people with just a password, eliminating the need for cumbersome identity checks including online digital certificates, unique number cards and onetime password code provision devices.

The app has been enjoying great success here over the past year. Toss, which has partnered with 18 banks, was downloaded more than 5 million times as of last month. The volume of financial transactions made on the app had surpassed 2 trillion won ($1.71 billion) as of November.


“It’s an honor to be recognized as the bet app of the year after passing Google Play’s stringent evaluation standards,” Viva Republica CEO Lee Seung-kun said.

“We will continue to focus on offering our users the best financial transaction services available on mobile platforms in the future,” Lee said.

Meanwhile, mobile strategy game “Clash Royale,” developed by US game developer Supercell, won the top prize in the game app category during this year’s Google Play App Awards.

“We are very honored to be receiving this award in Korea, home to a strong mobile game industry,” said Supercell’s marketing director Lee Ji-hong. “We will continue to make efforts to ensure the game’s popularity in the long run.”

As this year’s top awardees, the two apps will be featured on the Google Play TV ads produced by Google, the US internet giant said.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)