Travel Wallet names lead underwriters for upcoming IPO

Travel Wallet, a Korea-based foreign exchange and payments fintech company, said Friday it signed underwriting contracts with its lead securities firms and began converting its accounting standards to international rules, as it prepares for a 2027 listing on Kosdaq, Korea's tech-heavy secondary stock market.

The company said it has completed underwriting agreements with KB Securities and NH Investment & Securities, after selecting the two firms as lead underwriters for its initial public offering (IPO) in June.

Travel Wallet and the underwriters are now working through the follow-up steps required ahead of the listing.

Travel Wallet is also converting its financial statements to International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), the global accounting rules that make financial statements comparable across countries and are typically required of companies listing on major exchanges.

The company is working with Samjong KPMG, the Korean member firm of KPMG, and has completed two rounds of on-site reviews so far to update its financial reporting system and accounting policies accordingly.

Alongside its IPO preparations, Travel Wallet is expanding overseas. It launched its service for users in Japan in April, its first overseas market, adapting its in-house financial and payment infrastructure to local regulations. The company plans to enter the U.S. and other markets next.

Travel Wallet is aiming to list on the Kosdaq in 2027 and will continue refining its listing strategy and timeline with its underwriters, while pursuing global expansion to strengthen its mid- to long-term growth and corporate value, the company said.

"After completing our underwriting contracts, we are moving step by step toward our goal of listing on the Kosdaq in 2027, including the IFRS conversion and two rounds of on-site reviews," Travel Wallet CEO Kim Hyung-woo said.

"We plan to pursue IPO preparations alongside global business expansion to raise our mid- to long-term growth potential, while also advancing our financial and management systems."

Founded in 2017, Travel Wallet operates a fintech platform offering foreign exchange, payment and remittance services, best known for its prepaid foreign currency card, Travel Pay.

In 2020, it became the second fintech company in the world, and the first in Asia, to obtain a Visa card-issuing license.

The company supports payments in 46 currencies at more than 100 million merchants worldwide. As of June, its cumulative transactions had surpassed 9.8 trillion won ($7 billion), and cumulative card issuance had topped 9.6 million. Travel Wallet has raised about 90 billion won in cumulative funding to date.

This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.