FSC to Allow Issuance of Family Credit Cards to Minor Children

Legislative Notice for Amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Supervisory Regulations of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act
Non-Face-to-Face Verification of Business Operations Allowed for Card Merchant Registration
Ancillary Business Sco

The Financial Services Commission will revise relevant laws to allow minors to be issued family cards. Regulations will also be streamlined, such as enabling the verification of business operations for card merchants through non-face-to-face methods during the sign-up process.

Starting January 23, the Financial Services Commission will conduct a legislative notice and regulatory change notice for the amendments to the Enforcement Decree of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act and the Supervisory Regulations on Specialized Credit Finance Business.

First, a legal basis will be established for issuing family cards to minors. Under current law, credit cards can only be issued to individuals who are legal adults under civil law, meaning that, in principle, minors cannot be issued credit cards, including family cards. To address this, a provision will be created to allow minors aged 12 and older to be issued and use family credit cards for the purpose of use by the child, upon application by their parents. The Financial Services Commission stated, "With this institutional improvement, practices such as the transfer or lending of cards prohibited by the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act, including the use of 'mom cards,' will be resolved. In addition, it is expected that unexpected inconveniences in the process of reporting lost cards and receiving compensation for damages due to the use of someone else's card will be reduced."

Going forward, the verification of business operations during card merchant sign-up can be conducted non-face-to-face. Currently, during the credit card merchant registration process, a merchant recruiter must visit the applicant in person to verify actual business operations. This regulation will be rationalized to allow for verification through non-face-to-face methods as well as in-person visits.

Additionally, specialized credit finance companies will be allowed to expand their business scope to include acting as intermediaries and brokers for leasing and installment products of other companies. The system related to credit card business licensing will also be improved. The periods not included in the licensing review process will be specified in law, and an obligation has been introduced to periodically review whether the review process should be suspended.

The criteria for small merchants will also be revised. Currently, in addition to the sales-based standard for recognizing small merchants (annual sales of 300 million won or less), there is a separate criterion for simplified taxpayers (annual sales of less than 104 million won). This will be streamlined so that the recognition of small merchants is unified based solely on sales. The interest rate for refunds of overpaid amounts will also be set according to the interest rate for national tax refunds.

The legislative and regulatory change notice period for these amendments to the Enforcement Decree and Supervisory Regulations will run from January 23 to March 4. Afterward, the amendments are expected to be finalized in March 2026 following review by the Ministry of Government Legislation and approval by the Vice Ministers’ Meeting and Cabinet Meeting.