‘Eat-and-run controversy’ Merge Point... Hundreds flock to headquarters demanding refunds

Merzi Point Notice.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] The Merge Point application has been embroiled in a ‘scam controversy.’ Merge Point gained great popularity by offering ‘unlimited 20% discounts’ at food and beverage stores and convenience stores, but suddenly stopped selling points and drastically reduced the places where points could be used. Currently, hundreds of users seeking refunds are flocking to the Merge Point headquarters from various regions.

On the 13th, users visited the headquarters demanding face-to-face refunds due to anxiety over the possibility of not being able to get back points they had already paid for and suspicions that this might be a new type of fraud. It is reported that they waited in lines stretching hundreds of meters from the office building throughout the night, signing refund agreements and trying to recover at least part of their payment. The area around the headquarters was said to have had long parking lines at one point due to users gathering from all over the country.

At the ‘Merge Point Victims’ cafe where victims have gathered, inquiries are flooding in from users in regions who cannot immediately visit the headquarters, asking if someone can fill out the agreement form on their behalf. People waiting on-site are offering compensation and proposing proxy signing deals, and some who have successfully received refunds are sharing their reviews online. Throughout the night, posts such as “Can I go now?”, “Please share the situation on-site,” and “I’m taking the first subway” kept appearing online.

Earlier, Merge Plus announced on the 11th that it would reduce the operation of the Merge Point service. Merge Plus stated, “We have accepted the relevant authorities’ guidance that the Merge Plus service can be considered a prepaid electronic payment method, and for the time being, we will unify and reduce operations to only the ‘restaurant business’ category, which is a lawful service form.” It added, “We will expedite the electronic financial business registration process to completely resolve administrative procedure issues and provide a more scalable service within the fourth quarter.” For customers wishing to receive refunds, it said refunds would be processed sequentially at 90% through a refund application page, but no information was provided regarding the processing period.

Financial authorities have judged that Merge Point qualifies as a prepaid electronic payment method based on the service type and are reportedly reviewing its illegality (operating without electronic financial business registration). However, since Merge Plus is not a company registered under the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, there appear to be limitations to the Financial Supervisory Service’s measures related to the reduction of service usage.

Merge Plus posted a ‘Letter from the CEO’ explaining, “There have been several additional discussions with the relevant authorities,” and clarified, “The final conclusion is to temporarily reduce the service in the form described above to ensure legality while quickly proceeding with the electronic financial business registration process and resuming services within the app.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.