To Get a 100% Refund on Your Deposit... Financial Supervisory Service's Guide to Using 'OO Pay'

On the 26th, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced that if the number of merchants where prepaid funds can be used decreases or if the usage conditions become unfavorable, users can receive a full refund of their prepaid balance.

In the announcement titled "Useful Information When Using Prepaid Electronic Payment Instruments," the FSS stated that if a prepaid service provider reduces the number of merchants or changes usage conditions to the disadvantage of users, users can receive a refund of the entire prepaid balance without any deduction of fees. The prepaid service provider must notify users of the refund availability at least 7 days before the reduction or change date and post information about the refund on their website for at least 30 days from the reduction or change date. This is a result of strengthened user protection following the enforcement of the revised Electronic Financial Transactions Act on September 15.

However, if the number of available merchants decreases due to merchant closures or expiration of merchant contracts, it may be difficult to receive a full refund of the prepaid balance. Cases where contracts with illegal merchants are terminated according to merchant terms and conditions, or where there are sufficient other merchants so that users' interests are not harmed, are also excluded from full refund eligibility.

Additionally, the FSS explained that partial refunds are possible even for prepaid balances past their expiration date. If it is within 5 years from the date of purchase or recharge and before the statute of limitations is completed, users can receive a refund of 90% of the remaining prepaid balance.

If users do not agree to revised terms and conditions amended by the prepaid service provider, they can terminate the contract. If users do not agree to the content of the revised terms notified at least one month prior to the effective date, they can terminate the contract by the business day before the effective date of the revised terms. For example, if the revised terms effective on December 30 are notified on November 25, users can terminate the contract by December 27.