Viva Republica, which runs the money transfer platform Toss, says it has recently found unauthorized payments made on its system, and is working to find the exact causes of the incident.

According to the fintech firm, eight unauthorized purchases worth a total of 9.4 million won ($7,853) were made via Toss on June 3 from three online websites.

Data such as names, phone numbers, birth dates and personal identification numbers were compromised in the incident, but it is “highly unlikely” they were leaked via the Toss platform since they are not stored in its servers, the fintech firm said.

“The company gave compensation to eight victims right after the records of the unauthorized transactions were discovered,” said an official from Viva Republica.

“We will fully cooperate with the police and related agencies to find out who illegally gained access to the data.”

Although it pleaded innocence, the company vowed that it would beef up its security system to prevent any future hacking or attempts to use stolen personal data.

Established in 2011, the online bank is the first fintech startup to achieve unicorn status, meaning it is worth at least $1 billion. Viva Republica is deemed to be valued at $2.2 billion.

The company has received a preliminary license to run an online-only bank here, and aims to launch it as early as this year.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)