Kakao Pay and Toss Pay have halted the payment gateway (PG) services they had provided to Megabox. As Megabox entered rehabilitation proceedings and even saw its credit rating fall, major PG companies appear to be pulling back.
According to ChosunBiz reporting compiled on the 19th, since the afternoon of the day before, Kakao Pay and Toss Pay have been unavailable for online movie reservations at Megabox. Both Kakao Pay and Toss Pay have been removed from the list of available easy payment services at checkout.
A Toss Pay official said, "With Megabox Joongang filing for rehabilitation, uncertainty over settlement of payment proceeds and refunds has increased. To prevent harm such as customers being unable to use services after payment or experiencing refund delays, we have temporarily restricted new Toss Pay payments within Megabox," and added, "We will review whether to resume at the point when the settlement structure and customer protection measures are confirmed."
Earlier, JTBC, a core affiliate of JoongAng Group, declared a default on the 12th after failing to repay on time a securitized borrowing fund worth 20.6 billion won. After that, the holding company JoongAng Holdings and Megabox Joongang also filed with the court to commence rehabilitation proceedings. On the 15th, the Second Bankruptcy Division of the Seoul Bankruptcy Court issued a preservation order and a comprehensive stay order to Megabox Joongang.
Subsequently, Korea Ratings downgraded Megabox Joongang's credit rating to C. A Korea Ratings official said, "At the point when (Megabox Joongang) receives a court decision to commence rehabilitation proceedings, we plan to further downgrade the credit rating to D."
Under the comprehensive stay order, Megabox's debt and assets are frozen. A financial industry official said, "If a reservation payment is made via a pay service and then refunded, Megabox has to return that money to the pay company. But due to the comprehensive stay order, the pay companies cannot get their money back immediately," and added, "If Megabox fails at corporate rehabilitation and exits the business entirely, the pay companies may never recover the refund amounts. They appear to be withdrawing quickly to minimize such losses."
As of the end of last year, Megabox Joongang's total liabilities stood at 852.2 billion won. Total equity was 38.5 billion won, putting the debt ratio at 2,212%. From 2020 to 2025, it has been posting losses for six consecutive years, ranging from as little as 8 billion won to nearly 70 billion won.