The financial authorities said on the 12th that, together with the credit finance industry, they will apply a preferential fee rate to small and micro credit card merchants starting on the 14th. The preferential fee rate will apply to 3,087,000 out of a total of 3,225,000 credit card merchants, accounting for 95.7% of the total.
By annual sales bracket, a preferential fee rate of 0.4% to 1.45% for credit cards and 0.15% to 1.15% for debit cards will apply. The Credit Finance Association sent notices to business sites of merchants eligible for the preferential fee rate starting on the 6th, and merchants can check the applicable fee rate through the Credit Finance Association, each card company's call center, and the integrated inquiry system for merchant sales transaction information (PC/mobile web and mobile app card sales inquiry).
The same preferential fee rate will apply to 1,938,000 sub-merchants that accept card payments through payment gateway (PG) companies (93.1% of a total of 2,082,000) and to 166,000 individual and corporate taxi operators that accept card payments through transportation settlement operators (99.5% of a total of 167,000). These operators can check the applicable fee rate through their payment gateway company or transportation settlement operator.
For 159,000 merchants that opened as new credit card merchants in the second half of last year and were charged the general merchant fee rate but were confirmed, based on this sales review, to be small or micro merchants, the preferential fee rate will be applied retroactively and the fee difference will be refunded. Each card company plans to pay the refund into the merchant's card payment account by the 31st of next month. The refund amount will be calculated by applying the difference between the general merchant fee rate and the preferential fee rate to card sales from July 1 of last year to the 13th.
The total refund is expected to be about 64.33 billion won (an average of about 410,000 won per merchant). Merchants eligible for refunds can check the total refund amount and detailed daily and per-transaction statements on the integrated inquiry system for merchant sales transaction information and on each card company's website starting on the 31st of next month. Merchants that opened and then closed during the period are also included in the refund, and even if a notice was not received, the refund status and amount can be checked through the same system.
A retroactive refund of the fee difference will also be made for 143,000 sub-merchants of payment gateway companies that opened in the second half of last year and were charged the general fee rate but were confirmed to be small or micro merchants, and for 5,325 individual and corporate taxi operators using transportation settlement operators. Refunds will be made through each payment gateway company and transportation settlement operator by the 31st of next month, and the refund details can also be checked through those institutions.