Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) is facing backlash over sloppy management after running an event in Hong Kong last month that offered tickets to the "2025 MAMA Awards." IBK said it would provide tickets for the very front row on the first floor, but moved them to the second floor the day before the show. On the day of the show, it handed out tickets while telling winners to "sign a waiver."
According to the financial sector on the 3rd, Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) ran the "MAMA IBK event" from Aug. 11 to Sept. 14. The event offered concert invitations and a travel subsidy of 500,000 won to 35 customers who met certain conditions, such as spending at least 300,000 won with an IBK VISA personal card during the period.
The seats IBK assigned to winners were A-section, the closest to the stage. However, on the 28th of last month, the day before the show, IBK notified winners that "the scale of the show has been reduced due to a local fire in Hong Kong," then changed them to second-floor seats that were farther from the stage and had restricted views compared to A-section.
Others who won through events run by Olive Young and elsewhere and were likewise assigned A-section entered without issue on the day of the show. A person surnamed Kim (29) who won the IBK event said, "Right next to the IBK ticket booth was the Olive Young booth, and all the tickets for their winners were A-section," adding, "Olive Young winners said they had never been told the show was scaled down due to a fire."
Winners protested to IBK but said they were told only, "There's nothing we can do." Kim said, "When winners said they would file a complaint with the Financial Supervisory Service, IBK's stance changed," adding, "A Head of Team at headquarters in Korea called and said, 'Some seats suddenly opened up,' then offered B-section a little behind A-section." Of the 35 winners, six including Kim who protested strongly from the morning of the show received B-section tickets.
Friction continued between winners and IBK. The reason was the "2025 MAMA AWARDS package waiver agreement" distributed with the seat tickets before the show began. The document said that VISA, the event organizer, would not be responsible for damages or failure to provide services related to this matter. One winner said, "It was frustrating enough that our seats were suddenly changed, but being told to sign a document with the word 'waiver' right before entry made the atmosphere hostile."
A "customer response plan note" shared by on-site staff also drew criticism. The note instructed staff to respond to winners demanding compensation for the unilateral seat change by saying only, "We will discuss compensation after you return to Korea." Winners who did not protest the seat change were not offered any separate compensation plan.
An Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) official said, "VISA guided customers as if unconfirmed A-section seats were confirmed, and incorrect information was sent to customers," adding, "The seat assignment issue was caused by a communication error by VISA." The official continued, "IBK also feels responsible for failing to keep its promise to customers. Together with VISA, we will quickly prepare an appropriate compensation plan and inform customers."
On the waiver, the official said, "This is a routine procedure when running events and was not intended to avoid responsibility for the sudden seat change. VISA provided the document in October, a month before the show, asking us to 'obtain a signature when issuing tickets.'"