By Yoon Hee Young

A domestic online bank has expanded its online banking services to expats in Korea.

Toss Bank on May 2 said it is the nation's first online bank to offer such services to foreign residents of the country.

Toss is Korea's third online bank.

The nearly 2 million expats in the nation can open a Toss account as long as they have a foreign registration number.

A foreign resident without a bank account with a domestic bank can also open his or her first such account with Toss. This allows the client access to benefits just like Korean customers including those for bank accounts and compound interest.

Foreign customers can also use through Toss online banking and debit cards except for unsecured loan services such as credit loans and lines. The available services include a Toss bankbook with an annual interest rate of 2% before tax (0.1% if over KRW 100 million) and a debit card with cashback benefits.

Expats in Korea often face problems verifying their identities as they often spell their names differently for mobile phone subscriptions or bank accounts. To resolve this problem, Toss uses the Public Mydata Service of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

Mydata allows users to proactively utilize their personal data, which is often retained by administrative and public organizations, to enhance the public's data sovereignty in the digital environment and boost customer convenience. Toss also offers a more thorough process of verifying identification through the service.

The internet bank also pledged overseas remittance services for expats in the near future.

hyyoon@korea.kr