Samsung Card resumes payments to Homeplus after retailer pushes back

Samsung Card has withdrawn its suspension of merchant payments to Homeplus following the retailer's objections. Hyundai Card, meanwhile, has halted point-based payments to protect customers.

According to industry sources Tuesday, Homeplus demanded the immediate reversal of notices sent by Hyundai Card and Samsung Card suspending offline merchant payments, calling the move unjustified. The notices came after the Seoul Bankruptcy Court ruled Monday to terminate Homeplus's rehabilitation proceedings.

In a statement, Homeplus said it had received official notices from both card companies informing it of the termination of its online mall point partnership agreements, as well as the suspension and offsetting of offline merchant payments to handle outstanding receivables and canceled sales across online and offline channels.

Homeplus argued that the court's termination ruling had not yet taken effect, as it must be finalized before becoming enforceable, and that an immediate appeal remains available within 14 days of the announcement. "The rehabilitation proceedings are therefore still in force," the company said, adding that the card companies' notices terminating the online mall point partnership agreements lacked the required legal grounds and were thus invalid.

Homeplus also said the notices made no practical sense. "Credit purchases are not possible offline, and online operations have been suspended for three days now, making order cancellations impossible," it said. "Suspending offline merchant payments to handle outstanding receivables and canceled sales is simply unreasonable."

Samsung Card, which had temporarily withheld payments citing customer protection concerns, said the pace of sales cancellations had stabilized since the suspension and that it planned to resume normal merchant payments starting Wednesday.

Samsung Card had initially said it suspended payments after the court's termination ruling triggered a sharp increase in card sales cancellations, citing the need to prevent customer harm from interrupted or non-cancelable goods and services. The company added that it would resume payments through mutual agreement if rehabilitation proceedings were reinstated or a bankruptcy trustee appointed.

Under Samsung Card's standard merchant terms, grounds for suspending payments include cases where a merchant files for rehabilitation or bankruptcy under the Act on Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy, is subject to a bill-clearing house transaction suspension, or undergoes comparable material changes in its business operations. Samsung Card said its point partnership agreement with Homeplus remains unchanged.

Hyundai Card said it is currently making merchant payments to Homeplus and had simply notified the retailer of its policy to offset any future sales cancellations against outstanding amounts. However, the company terminated its point partnership service, citing customer protection concerns over the potential for harm from point-based transactions.