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"Money lent to friends, family, or lovers. This is the most common transaction in Korea, yet it rarely leaves a record. Often, only bank transfer records remain without even an IOU, leading to both financial loss and damaged relationships. A significant portion of civil lawsuits stem from this 'unrecorded money.'"
"What if there were a 'recording device' that guaranteed trust in financial transactions, much like a car's black box reduces disputes? A fintech startup has stepped directly into this blind spot: 'Money Guard Service (Money Guard),' which operates mobile electronic IOUs and repayment management services."
Moon Moon-gyu, CEO of Money Guard, had little connection to traditional finance. From his late 20s to early 30s, he worked in the finance department of an IT company under a military service exemption, then spent nearly 15 years managing sales and debt collection in the advertising and construction materials distribution sectors.
When deciding to start a business, his sole criterion was an item directly tied to money. Moon (CEO) said, "There are countless services that help you earn money, but almost none that protect it. Upon closer inspection, I realized there is a vast amount of money that can be protected simply by keeping proper records."
The decisive advice came from a close friend who has been his best friend since high school—a judge. The message was: "If you create a service that leaves records, it will naturally connect with the legal expert market."
Moon (CEO) stated, "We decided to build a structure where people don't feel like they're stealing others' money, but rather can easily receive what they are owed when consulting experts, while also making experts eager to help. The concept of Money Guard is to serve as a black box or CCTV for financial transactions."
Money Guard has moved the entire process of financial transactions to mobile. Within about a minute, users can create an electronic IOU and complete an electronic signature, which immediately gains legal effect. But that's not all. The service continues with repayment schedule management, overdue notifications, evidence organization, and connection to legal experts—all in one seamless flow.
Moon (CEO) clearly distinguished Money Guard from debt collection companies familiar through roadside advertising. He said, "Those companies help recover debts after a dispute has already erupted. We start with pre-emptive recording to ensure recovery before disputes arise, facilitating better communication between parties."
Money Guard's value was also confirmed in the judicial field. In April, during an electronic agreement case at Ulsan District Court, Money Guard's electronic IOU was accepted as evidence, resulting in a plaintiff victory. The court requested a fact-check from the company, and what typically takes nearly a year for civil cases was completed in just three months at the first instance.
Moon (CEO) remarked, "We never promoted ourselves to the courts, yet whenever lawsuits occur, we receive requests for factual inquiries regarding financial transactions. We respond by organizing and submitting details about how the electronic IOU was created and its storage system. This means Money Guard is already functioning like social infrastructure."
Money Guard has accumulated over 100,000 users, with completed IOUs totaling 550 billion won. Including those currently being drafted, the total exceeds 2 trillion won. The average amount per IOU ranges from 30 million to 50 million won, with the highest recorded at 2.6 billion won.
A notable metric is the 40th% repurchase rate. Moon (CEO) explained, "Many users don't just use it once and leave; those who lend money tend to continue lending. Among business owners who frequently need to provide small advances to employees, some have created over 200 IOUs."
The user base is also expanding. While the core demographic remains people in their 20s and 30s, there has been a clear increase in usage among those in their 60s and 70s. Moon (CEO) analyzed, "This is because IOUs between parents and children have become important for tax documentation purposes. As transactions between older and younger generations increase, this naturally extends to transactions within the older generation as well."
Money Guard is expanding beyond personal transactions to address social issues and manage small business dealings. For instance, it has achieved results by providing notification services for unpaid divorce-related child support, prompting payments to resume.
Moon (CEO) said, "Handwritten IOUs with notarization are like formal suits. But how often do we wear suits nowadays? In daily life, we wear casual clothes, and Money Guard is a service well-suited for casual financial transactions."
To that end, the company is preparing 'Money Talk' and 'Money Calendar.' Money Talk is a mobile chat-based money promise service designed for users who find traditional, rigid, document-heavy IOU creation burdensome.
Even loose promises like "I'll pay you back by the end of this month" become recorded when registered once. Like Karrot Market, it creates a dedicated chat window, allowing users to naturally record and remind themselves of money promises without direct confrontation, helping protect both finances and relationships without psychological discomfort.
Money Calendar is a debt management solution being developed for self-employed individuals, small business owners, and the B2B sector. By simply opening this app, small business owners can instantly identify and clearly manage "money that should come in today" and "money I need to pay out today."
Money Guard is expanding collaboration with banks. It has supplied its IOU service to the OK Savings Bank app and is preparing a PoC (Proof of Concept) with Woori Bank to integrate IOU functionality into their transfer button. This progress is built on trust accumulated through participating in Jeonbuk's first and second cohorts of WeBank's startup incubation program, 'DeNo Lab.'
Moon (CEO) stated, "I've met many banks, but Woori Bank stood out because they didn't just say 'no'; they explained the financial principles behind why it was difficult. That made a clear difference. We reached this point because they consistently evaluated our potential over two years rather than showing interest and then dropping us."
He continued, "Once an IOU is integrated into a remittance system, it can be easily connected with any bank in library form. If we become the engine that incorporates non-financial financial transaction records into the formal financial system, banks will gain alternative credit evaluation data they can utilize for refinancing loans and other purposes."
The company is also pursuing global market expansion. After visiting Kenya last November, it participated in 'Zaitech Africa,' known as Africa's CES, in April this year, and visited Senegal in May through the Korea Productivity Center.
Initial contacts were also made with Bank of America (BofA) in the U.S. Moon (CEO) said, "The types of money promises vary by country. In Africa, they relate to livelihoods and savings; in the U.S., they often involve documentation for children's education. While the purposes differ, the demand for promises is the same everywhere."
The ultimate vision Moon (CEO) envisions is 'trust infrastructure.' He explained, "Even social event expenses can be seen as potential creditor-debtor relationships. Our society has countless instances of mutual aid and reciprocity; if these are protected by a system, the overall trust level in society will rise."
He added, "We walk safely at night not because each person is good at fighting, but because society's safety nets and infrastructure are robustly built. Money is protected by the system. Individuals cannot protect their own money with their own strength alone."
Emphasizing further, he said, "Just as black boxes or CCTV reduce unnecessary conflicts, Money Guard will become an infrastructure that serves as the digital black box for financial transactions. Our ultimate goal is to allow people to easily leave records when relationships are good, thereby preventing disputes altogether."
[MoneyToday startup media platform 'Unicorn Factory']
in FUTURE
