FSS Upgrades Coupang Financial Probe: "Loan Operations Effectively Halted"

Inspection Upgraded to Formal Investigation After One Month

The Financial Supervisory Service has upgraded its on-site inspection of Coupang Financial, a subsidiary of Coupang, regarding "high-interest loans" to a formal investigation.

Harold Rogers, CEO of Coupang, is attending the "Coupang Joint Hearing" held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul on the 29th. 2025.12.30 Photo by Kang Jinhyung

According to financial authorities and the retail industry on January 8, the Financial Supervisory Service sent a prior notice to Coupang Financial the previous day, informing them that an investigation would begin next week.

Previously, Lee Chanjin, Governor of the Financial Supervisory Service, also mentioned on January 5 that the process was "being upgraded to an investigation." The transition to an investigation comes about a month after the initial on-site inspection began in early December.

The subject of the investigation is Coupang Financial's "Seller Growth Loan." This product provides up to 50 million won in business funds to Coupang marketplace sellers, based on their sales performance, at an annual interest rate of up to 18.9%.

During the on-site inspection, the Financial Supervisory Service reportedly found indications of violations of the Financial Consumer Protection Act, particularly regarding the appropriateness of interest rate calculation and the regulations on loan issuance and repayment.

Coupang Financial has faced criticism for allegedly engaging in unfair practices by leveraging Coupang's market dominance to impose excessively high interest rates on marketplace sellers during the loan process.

The Financial Supervisory Service is also examining whether Coupang Financial structured its secured loans-where settlement receivables from marketplace sellers are held as collateral for loan repayment-while setting interest rates as if they were unsecured loans based solely on credit, without considering the collateral.

This loan product applies a maximum repayment rate of 20% of sales revenue to determine repayment amounts for each settlement cycle, and sets a minimum repayment condition requiring sellers to repay 10% of the principal and the accrued interest every three months.

If sellers fail to meet these minimum repayment conditions and fall into arrears, the structure allows financial institutions to recover the principal and interest of the loan using the settlement payments that sellers are to receive from Coupang and Coupang Pay as collateral.

Another focus of the investigation is the unusually long payment cycle compared to other companies.

Governor Lee stated, "Unlike other retail platforms engaged in payment services, Coupang Financial has an extremely long payment cycle, exceeding one month. The basis for interest rate calculation appears highly arbitrary, leading to excessive profits."

According to industry sources, Coupang Financial suspended the sale of its loan products at the end of last month.

An industry official said, "They described it as an unsecured loan, and I understand that it was also disclosed to the Korea Federation of Credit Finance. With the financial authorities launching a rigorous inspection and investigation, the sale of loan products has effectively been halted."

Separately from the investigation into Coupang Financial, the Financial Supervisory Service is also conducting an on-site inspection regarding the leakage of personal information at Coupang Pay. The deadline for this inspection has been extended from December 26 to January 9, and a further extension is under consideration.

If any violations are found, the Financial Supervisory Service plans to immediately upgrade the inspection to a formal investigation.