According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s report released on the 28th on payment-fee disclosures, the weighted-average fee rates for 18 covered firms from September last year through February were 1.98% for card payments and 1.74% for prepaid payments.
Compared with the previous disclosure period (February to July last year) based on 11 firms, the card payment fee rate fell by 0.01 percentage points and the prepaid payment fee rate dropped by 0.07 percentage points.
Card payment fees showed little variation across four major business types: dedicated payment gateway providers, or PGs (2.01%); dual-business PGs (1.80%); shopping mall-type operators (2.08%); and delivery platform-type operators (2.01%). Fees for small and midsize merchants were lower than those for general merchants.
Prepaid payment fees varied widely: delivery platform-type and shopping mall-type operators posted 3.00% and 2.38%, respectively, while dual-business PGs and dedicated PGs recorded 1.63% and 0.30%.
The FSS attributed the gap to the prepaid business model, in which operators manage the full process — including issuing prepaid value and settling with merchants — resulting in a higher share of fees retained by the operator. The operator-retained share averaged 80.6% for prepaid fees, compared with 10.6% for card fees.
The watchdog said fees declined slightly from the prior disclosure period, indicating the disclosure system is having some effect.
Payment fee rates are set autonomously by firms based on business strategy and cost structure. Card payment fees generally favor smaller merchants, and the FSS said prepaid fees, while differing by company, are also being set at levels similar to card fees across merchant sales brackets.
The FSS plans to expand the disclosure 대상: from firms with monthly payment volume of at least 500 billion won this year to at least 200 billion won next year, and to all firms in 2028.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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