▲ Homeplus
Homeplus has demanded that Hyundai Card and Samsung Card immediately withdraw their decision to suspend payments to offline merchants, labeling the move as unjust following the Seoul Bankruptcy Court's decision to terminate the company's rehabilitation proceedings.
Credit card companies stated that the measure was taken to prevent potential harm to customers.
In a statement released today (July 6), Homeplus announced that it had received official notices from Hyundai Card and Samsung Card regarding the termination of their online mall point partnership contracts, as well as the suspension and offsetting of payments to offline merchants to cover outstanding receivables and sales cancellations.
The company argued, "The decision to terminate rehabilitation proceedings only becomes effective once it is finalized. Since an immediate appeal can be filed within 14 days from the date of the public notice, the rehabilitation process is still ongoing." Homeplus further claimed, "The credit card companies' notification of contract termination for the online mall points based on the termination of rehabilitation proceedings is invalid as it lacks the necessary legal grounds."
The company specifically pointed out that offline purchases on credit are not possible, and with online operations suspended for the third day, order cancellations are also impossible. Therefore, they argued that suspending payments to cover receivables and sales cancellations "makes no sense."
A Homeplus official protested, "Suspending payments based on illogical reasons is an unfair practice. If the credit card companies block the recovery of card payments, we cannot continue our operations."
The official added, "Even after the court's decision to terminate rehabilitation, all employees are doing their best until the very end without losing hope. Rather than offering help, they should not be pouring cold water on our efforts to recover with such unreasonable excuses," and demanded the immediate withdrawal of the payment suspension.
In response, Samsung Card stated, "We have temporarily suspended payments to the merchant to prevent customer damage, such as the cessation of goods and services or the inability to process cancellations." The company added, "We plan to make payments upon consultation if the rehabilitation process resumes or if a bankruptcy trustee is appointed."
It is understood that the decision to temporarily suspend payments was made due to a sharp increase in card sales cancellations following the court's decision, and to prepare for potential future sales cancellations.
According to Samsung Card's standard terms and conditions for merchants, a credit card company may suspend payments to a merchant if "the merchant files for rehabilitation or bankruptcy under the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act, receives a transaction suspension notice from a clearing house, or experiences equivalent management changes."
The company maintains that there has been no change to its point partnership contract with Homeplus.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Card stated, "We are currently making payments to Homeplus as a merchant."
It is understood that the company only informed Homeplus of its policy to offset payments in the event of sales cancellations, and that payments were indeed processed today.
Hyundai Card drew a line, stating that while it did terminate the point partnership service to protect customers from potential risks associated with point-based payments, it has not terminated the overall contract.
A Hyundai Card official said, "Contract termination requires consultation, and we have not yet reached that stage."
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