"'Meoji Incident' Could Happen Again"... 58 Unregistered Prepaid Companies

FSS Requests Data Submission for Survey
"Effective Measures Needed to Prevent Merzi Incident Recurrence"

Reference image = Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] It has been revealed that nearly 60 companies appear to be operating prepaid businesses without undergoing the legal registration procedures, similar to the operator of 'Merge Point,' which caused the 'refund chaos.' There are urgent calls for proactive measures to prevent a second Merge Point incident.

According to data submitted and analyzed by the Financial Supervisory Service on the 5th, provided by Jeon Jae-su, a member of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, 58 companies are suspected of selling gift certificates or operating prepaid transaction businesses without going through the registration procedures under the Electronic Financial Transactions Act (EFTA).

The current EFTA stipulates that companies issuing prepaid charges with a balance exceeding 3 billion KRW and usable in two or more industries such as restaurants and convenience stores must register as electronic financial business operators and be subject to regulatory supervision. To conduct a detailed investigation, the Financial Supervisory Service requested these companies to submit data last month to determine whether they meet the registration requirements under the EFTA.

Merge Plus, the operator of the discount payment platform Merge Point, operated without registering as a prepaid electronic payment business operator under the EFTA and abruptly suspended its service in mid-August, stating it would resume sales after registration. This caused hundreds of users seeking refunds to flock to the company's headquarters simultaneously.

The Financial Supervisory Service plans to encourage companies that meet the registration requirements to register as electronic financial business operators as soon as possible, bringing them under regulatory supervision. The Financial Supervisory Service expects the submission of data from these companies to be completed by early this month.

Assemblyman Jeon stated, "The Merge Point incident occurred due to the clever exploitation of complex regulatory blind spots," and emphasized, "To prevent a second Merge Point incident, the financial authorities need to conduct a thorough investigation of the 58 companies and implement effective measures to prevent recurrence."

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