Nine months after Wemakeprice's bankruptcy, 54 card products still list it as a benefit partner

Nearly nine months after Wemakeprice was declared bankrupt, credit card products that advertise Wemakeprice benefits have been slow to update their terms and conditions. Critics say the consumer protection intent of the standard credit card terms — which allow issuers to substitute a similar service when a partner goes bankrupt or otherwise becomes unable to provide benefits — is not being applied in practice.

A survey conducted Tuesday of all cards currently being issued by domestic card companies found 54 products that still explicitly name Wemakeprice as a benefit partner in their terms without any revision.

Samsung Card had the most, with 20 such products, followed by KB Kookmin Card with 16, Hana Card with nine, Shinhan Card with eight and Woori Card with one. Hyundai Card and BC Baro Card had no products directly tied to Wemakeprice benefits, as their terms do not name specific online shopping platforms. The total could be even larger if discontinued cards still in active use by customers are included.

Some cards also still list Tmon (Ticketmonster) as a benefit partner in their terms. The "social commerce" category that once grouped Coupang Inc, Tmon and Wemakeprice together has not been revised. Tmon was acquired by Oasis following the Tmon-Wemakeprice crisis but has yet to set a date to resume operations.

Under the standard credit card terms for individual members published by the Credit Finance Association, card issuers may revise their terms to provide a similar service through a different partner when a benefit must be reduced or changed due to a partner's suspension of business, bankruptcy or financial difficulties. The intent is to protect financial consumers by offering an equivalent service rather than simply eliminating existing benefits.

Services that had linked card reward points to Wemakeprice points have already completed follow-up measures, including terms revisions. The remaining task is to designate replacement partners for cases where Wemakeprice is still named in the terms as a discount or rewards partner.

To designate a replacement partner, card issuers must file advance notice with the Financial Supervisory Service and complete the required procedures to revise their terms. SSG.COM has emerged as a leading approved replacement for Wemakeprice. Even with that precedent in place, the cleanup has been slow — partly because cost structures and partnership conditions vary by product, and partly because products that already list multiple social commerce platforms find it difficult to identify suitable replacements.

"My understanding is that for products listing Auction, G-Market and Coupang Inc together, home shopping affiliates are being exceptionally recognized as replacement partners," one card industry official said. "Each card company needs to negotiate new partnership agreements, but the conditions are not easy."

"The unit cost structure — including discount costs — differs by product, so those have to be renegotiated," the official added. "It's not just a matter of changing the wording in the terms; new partnership contracts have to be signed as well, which takes time."

The terms-revision issue could resurface depending on how the Homeplus situation unfolds. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court reversed its earlier decision to terminate Homeplus's corporate rehabilitation proceedings and reinstated the process after Homeplus secured a plan to raise 200 billion won ($140 million) in debtor-in-possession emergency operating funds from its largest creditor, Meritz Financial Group, resolving the grounds for the termination that had been appealed.

Because Homeplus has not yet gone bankrupt, card issuers are not immediately required to arrange replacement services. However, if Homeplus were to halt operations due to bankruptcy or other reasons, card companies that have been offering Homeplus benefits would need to find new partners and revise their terms.

Among cards currently being issued, 132 products offer discount or rewards benefits tied to Homeplus — more than double the 54 Wemakeprice-linked products. Most bundle E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus together as a single discount and rewards category covering the three major hypermarket chains.

"Homeplus has not gone bankrupt yet, so there is no need to arrange replacement services or take separate action at this point," another card industry official said. "But there are not many large merchants that could replace Homeplus, and many products bundle E-mart, Lotte Mart and Homeplus together, so arranging replacements would not be easy." The official added that the progress of the rehabilitation proceedings and each card company's response would need to be monitored going forward.