Toss and Naver Clash Over POS System Integration at National Assembly Hearing

Toss Place and Naver continued their conflict over point-of-sale (POS) system integration during a national assembly hearing. Toss Place accused Naver of unfairly excluding its POS system from partnership opportunities, while Naver defended its selection process as based on objective criteria.

Choi Jae-ho, CEO of Toss Place, testified before the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on October 12, stating, "We have been requesting POS integration with Naver for the past two years. Initially, we were told there were priorities with other POS companies, but we have not received any clear criteria or explanations for two years."

Regarding Naver's recent police complaint against Toss, Choi remarked, "This issue is completely separate from Toss Place's request for POS integration. I find it unreasonable that Naver is linking advertising and POS integration, which are distinct matters." He added, "I hope the Fair Trade Commission will take swift action on this matter."

Previously, Naver had informed Toss that it could not pursue further business collaboration until the issue of Toss's 'compensatory advertising' was resolved. Toss Place has pushed back, arguing that the advertising dispute and the POS integration issue should be treated separately.

In contrast, Naver maintains that it did not intentionally exclude any specific business and that its selection of integration partners is based on internal criteria. Naver also countered Toss's claim that it has been excluded for over two years, noting that the integration with Naver Place's Plus POS began in June of last year.

The Fair Trade Commission has stated it will investigate whether there has been any discriminatory behavior by platform operators. Joo Byeong-ki, the chairman of the Fair Trade Commission, said, "We have received reports regarding this dispute and have confirmed the claims of both parties. We will closely examine whether Naver has engaged in unfair discrimination against competing businesses."