2.79 Million Credit Card Merchants to Receive Preferential Fees of 0.8~1.6% Starting End of This Month

Small merchants number 2.18 million (75.2%), medium-small merchants 606,000 (20.9%)
Notification of preferential fee rate application to be sent from the 27th

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] From the end of this month, preferential fees (0.8~1.6%) will be applied to 2,786,000 credit card merchants with annual sales of 3 billion KRW or less, based on the selection results of small and medium-sized credit card merchants in the first half of this year.

According to the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service on the 26th, preferential fees will be applied from the 31st to 2,786,000 credit card merchants, accounting for 96.1% of the total 2.9 million credit card merchants.

For small merchants with annual sales of 300 million KRW or less, a fee rate of 0.8% for credit cards and 0.5% for check cards will be applied. Among medium-sized merchants, those with annual sales exceeding 300 million KRW but not exceeding 500 million KRW will be charged 1.3% for credit cards and 1.0% for check cards; those with sales exceeding 500 million KRW but not exceeding 1 billion KRW will be charged 1.4% for credit cards and 1.1% for check cards. Medium-sized merchants with annual sales exceeding 1 billion KRW but not exceeding 3 billion KRW will be charged 1.6% for credit cards and 1.3% for check cards.

The small merchants confirmed and selected through National Tax Service tax data this time totaled 2.18 million (75.2%), and medium-sized merchants totaled 606,000 (20.9%). This is an increase of 42,000 small merchants and 1,000 medium-sized merchants compared to the second half of last year.

The Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute plans to send notices regarding the application of preferential fee rates to merchant business sites starting from the 27th. Merchants receiving the same fee rates as before will not receive separate notices.

Although not credit card merchants, PG (Payment Gateway) sub-merchants and individual taxi operators who collect card payments through PG or transportation settlement operators will also be subject to preferential fees. Preferential fee rates will be applied to 1,093,000 PG sub-merchants (91.2%) and 165,000 individual taxi operators (99.9%) confirmed to meet the sales criteria for small and medium-sized credit card merchants.

Additionally, for new credit card merchants registered in the second half of last year (July 1 to December 31, 2020) who initially applied the industry average fee rates but were selected as small and medium-sized credit card merchants in the first half of this year, each card company will refund the fee difference (previously paid fee minus preferential fee) to the merchants' card payment accounts by March 17. The refund scale is estimated at 49.9 billion KRW for about 190,000 merchants, averaging approximately 260,000 KRW per merchant.