New Small and Medium Credit Card Merchants to Receive Preferential Fee Rates

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Starting from the 31st, preferential commission rates will be applied based on sales volume segments to 3,027,000 credit card merchants.

According to the Financial Services Commission on the 28th, the Korea Credit Finance Association will send notification letters to credit card merchants eligible for preferential commission rates starting from the 29th. Merchants can check the applicable commission rates through the Korea Credit Finance Association call center or the integrated sales transaction information inquiry system for merchants.

PG sub-merchants who receive card payments through electronic payment service providers (PG) or transportation settlement service providers, as well as individual taxi operators, will also be subject to preferential commission rates. Preferential commission rates ranging from 0.5% to 1.5% will be applied to 1,709,000 PG sub-merchants with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less and 165,000 individual taxi operators. Whether preferential commission rates apply can be confirmed through the PG company or transportation settlement service provider used by the business operator.

For 178,000 newly opened credit card merchants in the second half of last year who initially paid the general merchant commission rate but were later identified through National Tax Service tax data as small or medium-sized merchants eligible for preferential commission rates, the preferential commission rates will be applied retroactively. Starting from March 15, each card company plans to refund the commission difference to the merchants’ card payment accounts. The refund amount will be calculated as the difference between the 'card fees already paid' and the 'card fees that would have been paid if the preferential commission rate had been applied' for newly opened credit card merchants in the second half of last year.

The total refund amount can be checked through the Korea Credit Finance Association’s integrated sales transaction information inquiry system for merchants. Detailed information such as daily and per-case refund amounts can also be confirmed via each card company’s website. It is estimated that a total of 63.9 billion KRW will be refunded to 178,000 merchants newly opened in the second half of last year with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less.

Additionally, merchants who became new merchants in the second half of last year but closed their businesses within the same period are also eligible for refunds. Even if notification letters were not sent due to the absence of a current business location, eligibility and refund amounts can be checked from March 15 through the integrated sales transaction information inquiry system and each card company’s website.

Furthermore, 158,000 PG sub-merchants and 4,475 individual taxi operators who opened new businesses in the second half of last year and were confirmed to be eligible for preferential commission rates based on sales volume will also receive commission difference refunds starting March 15 through PG companies and transportation settlement service providers.

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