The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) has started investigation into possible collusion among credit card companies regarding their demands to raise interchange fees.
The KFTC said on Thursday that it would probe BC Card, KB Card, and LG Card for their possible collusion. The KFTC suspects these companies because the timing and the increase rate are very similar. It will expand the probe to other card companies if the charges are proven true.
No big disruptions were seen on Thursday, two days after E-mart, Korea?s largest discount chain, refused to take BC cards. However, consumers are likely to experience more inconvenience since they will not be able to use KB cards at E-mart outlets starting September 6. BC Card and E-mart have opened a channel for negotiation, minding consumer complaints, but chances are very slim that they will actually reach an agreement.
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