Unused Transportation Card Funds Pocketed by Companies... 120 Billion Won Embezzled Over 3 Years

Prepaid Recharge Funds Accumulated Over 3 Years Reach 120 Billion KRW
Transportation Card Companies Account for 65% of Total Unclaimed Income
Mybi 12.6 Billion KRW, Cashbee 11.3 Billion KRW Follow

It has been revealed that the unclaimed balance income collected by domestic prepaid companies over the past three years amounts to 120 billion KRW. In particular, the unclaimed balance income of transportation card companies such as T-money and Mybi was significant.

According to data submitted by the Financial Supervisory Service to Rep. Yang Jeong-suk of the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 6th, the unclaimed balance income collected by 27 domestic prepaid operators over the past three years reached 119.289 billion KRW. The amount of prepaid funds that expired was 32 billion KRW in 2020, 44.3 billion KRW in 2021, and 42.2 billion KRW last year.

The company with the highest unclaimed balance income was the transportation card company 'T-money.' T-money earned 53.7 billion KRW over three years. This accounted for 45% of the total unclaimed balance income. Next were Mybi with 12.6 billion KRW and Locamobility (Cashbee) with 11.3 billion KRW, highlighting the unclaimed balance income of transportation card companies.

Following the transportation card prepaid operators, SM Highplus (Hi-pass) earned 9.8 billion KRW in unclaimed balance income, DGB U-Pay 5.3 billion KRW, Korea Culture Promotion (Cultureland) 3.5 billion KRW, Korea Prepaid Card 2.9 billion KRW, Gmarket 2 billion KRW, Lotte Shopping 1.9 billion KRW, and Busan Hanaro Card 1.9 billion KRW also earned unclaimed balance income.

"The expiration period should be abolished or public interest utilization plans should be sought"

The reason unclaimed balance income occurs is that the statute of limitations under commercial law is five years. If consumers forget or lose the card and do not use it for five years, the amount automatically reverts to the prepaid company. The problem is that as the scale of prepaid funds steadily grows year by year, the unclaimed balance income of prepaid operators is also increasing accordingly.

Rep. Yang Jeong-suk stated, "The issue of unclaimed balance income from prepaid card companies is not new, and T-money has continuously faced criticism regarding lost card refunds, balance refund fees, and unclaimed balance income but has not resolved these issues satisfactorily." She added, "Although T-money conducts social contribution and donation activities annually through its foundation, the donations over three years amount to about 7.4 billion KRW, which is less than one-fifth of the unclaimed balance income."

Rep. Yang continued, "Last April, Shinsegae Group improved the terms and conditions across its distribution affiliates and abolished the expiration period applied to prepaid funds for Starbucks Korea and SSG.com. Prepaid companies should refer to such cases."

She also added, "We will seek ways to utilize the expiring prepaid funds for public interest purposes, such as investing them as funds for the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency or using them as funds related to the companies, like public transportation development funds."

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