Shop owners' 'Attractive' Kakao Mobile Gift Certificate, Lower Fee Rate, Shorten Settlement Deadline...What about homework?

Kakao Mobile Gift Certificate Shortens Settlement Deadline by Lowering Fees
Annual Issue Size Nearly KRW 4 Trillion Kakao Mobile Gift Certificate
More than twice as high as the commission rate card and longer settlement cycle

[Anchor]
One of the reasons franchisees complain of a big burden along with delivery app fees in this recession is the high commission and long settlement cycle of Kakao mobile gift certificates.

The commission rate reaches up to 15%, and the settlement cycle reaches no less than two months.

The industry has agreed to a win-win plan to lower the commission rate and reduce the settlement deadline, but homework remains.

Lee Seung-eun reports.

[Reporter]
A franchise coffee shop, 3 out of 10 customers pay with a Kakao mobile gift certificate during the New Year's holiday.

However, from the perspective of store owners, mobile gift certificates are not very happy.

The commission rate is 4.5%, which is more than twice as much as the card, and the payment will not come in until up to 45 days later.

[00 Coffee franchise owner: If you sell 10,000 won, you lose more than 500 won. That's what I feel right away. If I pay with a card, I will still have to lose about 100 won to 200 won....]

At least, the situation is better for this franchise.

The Kakao mobile gift certificate commission rate reaches up to 15% including the issuer commission rate, and above all, the settlement period is long, so it usually takes about 67 days.

The public-private consultative body, which included distributor Kakao, five issuers, franchisees and headquarters organizations, agreed on a win-win plan after eight months of discussion.

Kakao has decided to lower its commission rate from a maximum of 14% to a maximum of 8% within the first quarter of next year, to 9% including the issuer's commission.

If the headquarters and the store owner pay the fee half and half, the store owner's fee rate will be lowered to less than 3.5%.

Kakao will also increase the number of monthly settlements and significantly reduce the deadline for issuers to settle with the franchise headquarters, reducing the settlement cycle so that if consumers pay with mobile gift certificates, shop owners can receive payments after 37 days.

However, there is still homework to draw cooperation from the franchise headquarters.

[Kim Kwang-bu / Co-Chair of the National Council of Franchisees: I understand that some franchise headquarters are still passing on mobile gift certificate fees to franchisees and are passive about sharing preferential fees for owners, which is the core content of the win-win plan.]

[Han Ki-jung / Fair Trade Commission Chairman: We will actively support the win-win plan so that it can lead to results that small business owners can feel.]

The Fair Trade Commission will also push to increase the refund rate of expired mobile gift certificates from 90% to 95%.

The standard terms and conditions for new types of gift certificates will be revised within the first half of next year, but mobile gift certificates that consumers receive for free are not subject to application.

I'm YTN's Lee Seung Eun.


Photographer: Kim Jeong-won
Design: Lee Ga-eun