[Ki Ha-young's Life Card] Change or Cancel Card Auto-Payments Now All at Once

Application via AccountInfo mobile app and PayInfo homepage
Cancellation possible until 22:00 on the application day
Change/cancellation processing takes about 3 business days from the application date

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young]Is there anyone these days without at least one or two credit cards? In modern society, anyone can have a card if they want. Credit cards have brought unparalleled convenience to daily life. Now, wherever you go, you can easily see people paying with credit cards or smartphones. As demand has increased, cards with various benefits are being released almost daily. Accordingly, Asia Economy delivers diverse stories related to cards, which are inseparable from our consumer life, through the weekly 'Cards in Daily Life' corner, from introducing new cards to industry behind-the-scenes and guides for card beginners.

Many of you have probably found it cumbersome to change the card used for automatic payment when trying to get a discount on your telecom bill, right? This is because you have to individually cancel the existing automatic payment card with the telecom company and apply for a new one. To reduce this inconvenience, the financial authorities introduced a service earlier this year that allows you to change or cancel card automatic payments all at once.

The card automatic payment change and cancellation service is available through the Financial Settlement Service’s Account Info mobile application (app) and the Pay Info website. Currently, only telecom fees can be changed or canceled, but the service scope will be expanded to include electricity bills, school banking, the four major social insurances, maintenance fees, and more by the end of this year.

However, even now, you can check card automatic payment details not only for telecom fees but also for electricity bills, school banking, the four major social insurances, maintenance fees, and others. Since December 2019, the Financial Settlement Service’s 'My Automatic Payments at a Glance' service allows you to view the status of automatic payments registered on multiple cards at once.

Automatic Payment Change and Cancellation Available from 9 AM to 10 PM

The card automatic payment change and cancellation service is available to anyone who owns a credit or check card. It covers all major card companies such as KB Kookmin Card, Lotte Card, BC Card (including Industrial Bank of Korea and other dual banks), Samsung Card, Shinhan Card, Woori Card, Hana Card, Hyundai Card, as well as banks like Suhyup Bank, NH Nonghyup Bank, Gwangju Bank, Jeju Bank, and Jeonbuk Bank. However, corporate cards cannot be used for automatic payment changes or cancellations.

You can check automatic payment details 24/7 from 8 AM to midnight. Changes or cancellations can be made on weekdays, the card companies’ business days, from 9 AM to 10 PM. The processing time for changes or cancellations is about three business days from the application date. So if you apply to change your card automatic payment, it will be updated at least three days later.

You can also cancel the card automatic payment change service application by 10 PM on the same day. If you mistakenly selected the wrong automatic payment to change or cancel, or entered the wrong card number, you can cancel the application. However, before applying for the service, it is advisable to check whether the new card number is valid and whether the cardholder before and after the change is the same.

Check 'Card Benefit Conditions' Before Change and 'Processing Results' After Change

There are also precautions before changing card automatic payments. First, it is necessary to check the benefit conditions of the card before the change. Customers who were receiving card automatic payment benefits from the previous card company may face unexpected disadvantages such as losing billing discounts when changing to another card for automatic payment. Therefore, it is recommended to verify whether the automatic payment was subject to billing discounts or long-term low-interest installment conditions before using the card automatic payment change service.

Also, it is important to confirm via mobile text messages or app push notifications whether the card automatic payment change or cancellation was processed successfully. If the automatic payment change or cancellation fails, you must reapply after the billing date of the relevant fee or after resolving the reason for the failure. You can check the reasons for failure on the website or app under 'Change/Cancellation Application Result Inquiry.'

Finally, if you wish to cancel your card membership, you must confirm that the card automatic payment change has been completed before applying. If you cancel your existing card membership while the change or cancellation is being processed, the card transfer may not be completed properly, which can cause unpaid bills or delinquencies.