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Hyeong-rok Choi, CEO of Ballan. (Photo = Ballan) |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] Luxury online platform Ballan has completely suspended its payment services following controversy over delayed merchant settlements.
According to industry sources on Sunday, product purchases and payments have been unavailable on Ballan since the night of the 28th. The payment page currently displays a notice stating that "all payment methods are unavailable."
The sudden payment disruption is believed to be due to credit card companies and payment gateway (PG) service providers suspending their services. Ballan's in-house payment service, Ballan Pay, is also currently non-operational.
The issue arose on the 24th when Ballan failed to disburse settlement payments to some of its partner merchants, sparking controversy.
Ballan initially stated that "errors, including overpayments to certain merchants, were discovered, leading to a reassessment of settlement amounts," and assured that "finalized settlement amounts and payment schedules for each merchant would be shared by the 28th." However, this failed to ease concerns among merchants worried about non-payment. The situation worsened when Ballan reversed its promise to finalize the settlement plan by the 28th and further postponed the schedule.
Ballan processes an average monthly transaction volume of approximately KRW 30 billion ($22 million) and has over 1,300 partner merchants. Industry insiders estimate that the unpaid settlements could amount to several hundred billion KRW.
AlphaBIZ Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
