Concerns Over Self-Employed Losses Amid Merge Point 'Hot Potato' Situation

Hundreds Gather at Headquarters Demanding Refunds
Surge in Payments at Usable Restaurants
CEO Kwon Nam-hee: "Please Trust Us Until Normalization"

On the afternoon of the 13th, subscribers demanding refunds gathered at the Merge Point headquarters located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Concerns over damage are growing as some users of the Merge Point application, embroiled in a 'scam controversy,' are shifting the burden onto affiliated restaurants.

On the 14th, internet communities posted locations and reviews of affiliated stores where Merge Money can be used. This method shifts Merge Money onto small affiliated stores that were unaware of the current situation. If store owners fail to receive settlements in the future, a chain of damages is inevitable.

Merge Point gained great popularity by offering unlimited 20% discounts at large supermarkets, convenience stores, and coffee shops, but suddenly stopped selling points and drastically reduced places where points could be used. On the 11th, 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," adding, "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."

Merge Plus announced that customers wishing for refunds can apply through the refund application page and that 90% will be refunded sequentially, but no information was provided regarding the processing period. As a result, hundreds of users demanding refunds gathered at Merge Plus headquarters, fiercely protesting and causing confusion, with police even dispatched.

Since Merge Plus has been operating without registration, it is difficult to estimate the scale of potential damage. According to related industries, the app has 1 million registered users, with daily application users reaching 200,000. The transaction volume has recently been around 30 to 40 billion KRW per month on average.

On the previous day, Kwon Nam-hee, CEO of Merge Plus, said in an interview with a media outlet, "Employees have been trapped in the office for over 24 hours without water or food," and "We hope users will trust us until normalization is achieved." Merge Point announced, "Refunds are processed sequentially in the order of receipt, and work paralysis caused by offline visiting customers is causing delays in refund processing," and requested understanding by stating, "We have decided that offline refunds are not possible under any circumstances to allow efforts toward normalization."

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