"90,000 Won Fueling but 150,000 Won Charged?"... Beware of Overpayment Damage at Self-Service Gas Stations

Prepayment Cancellation Not Allowed When Card Limit Exceeded
Financial Supervisory Service: "Check Receipt and Request Cancellation at Gas Station"

# Mr. A, while returning home from a trip, selected the 'Full Tank (150,000 KRW)' option at a self-service gas station on the highway and refueled 96,000 KRW worth of fuel. A few days later, when checking his card statement, Mr. A found that 150,000 KRW, not the actual refueling amount of 96,000 KRW, had been charged. The prepayment of 150,000 KRW for the 'Full Tank' should have been canceled and a new approval for 96,000 KRW should have been made, but since the 96,000 KRW payment was not approved due to exceeding the card limit, the prepayment of 150,000 KRW was not canceled.

The photo is not related to the specific content of the article. A view of a self-service gas station in Seoul/Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 3rd, the Financial Supervisory Service and the Credit Finance Association issued consumer advisories regarding 'overpayment' that can occur during card payments at self-service gas stations. Generally, self-service gas stations require customers to prepay the maximum expected refueling amount as a deposit before refueling. If the actual refueling amount is less than the deposit, a new approval for the actual amount is made and the prepayment is canceled. However, as in Mr. A’s case, if the approval is rejected due to reasons such as exceeding the card limit, the prepaid amount is not canceled and the payment ends with the prepaid amount, causing the consumer to pay more than the actual refueling cost.

The Financial Supervisory Service urged consumers to always check the receipt when paying by card at self-service gas stations and to verify that the charged amount matches the actual refueling amount. In particular, if phrases such as 'approval failure,' 'limit exceeded,' or 're-approval failure' appear, consumers should inquire with the gas station staff. Additionally, if a card approval is rejected at a self-service gas station, the card company will send a 'limit exceeded approval rejection notice' via text message within one hour.

If consumers confirm overpayment through receipts or text messages, they can cancel the payment by phone without revisiting the gas station. In this case, cancellation and refund take 3 to 4 business days, the same as a regular card payment cancellation, and the processing results can be checked through the card company’s app or other channels.