"Buy for 90,000 won, get 100,000 won refunded"... Starbucks suspends anonymous card sales amid concerns over cash-out schemes

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[Financial News] Starbucks Korea has decided to offer full refunds for Starbucks Card balances on a temporary basis starting in June, following controversy over its Tank Day promotion. Concerns have since been raised that the policy could be abused for so-called cash-out schemes, or arbitrage trading. In response, Starbucks has suspended sales of new anonymous physical cards.
Starbucks said it will temporarily suspend sales of new anonymous physical cards at stores nationwide from the 28th through June 14. During the same period, it will also temporarily halt the service that exchanges e-card vouchers for anonymous Starbucks Cards.
Sales of 100,000-won cards will be suspended across all platforms. For cards worth 10,000 won to 70,000 won, each platform will apply its own policy.
Giftishow Biz, operated by KT alpha, stopped selling Starbucks e-Gift Card vouchers of all denominations, including the 100,000-won version, starting that day. 11st, Auction, and GS&Coupon also halted sales of 100,000-won vouchers.
The move appears aimed at preventing fraudulent transactions that could arise after Starbucks decided to fully refund card balances from June 1 to 14 without requiring the previous condition that at least 60% of the card value be used.
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In fact, similar activity is already appearing on online secondhand marketplaces and in the gifticon market.
On Danggeun, users can find posts saying they want to buy Starbucks Cards at 80% to 90% of face value. One post titled "I buy Starbucks Cards at 91%" says the seller would purchase a 100,000-won card for 91,000 won and a 50,000-won card for 45,500 won. If those cards are then fully refunded at a store, the difference would be 9,000 won for the 100,000-won card and 9,500 won for the 50,000-won card.
Until now, Starbucks had refunded only the remaining balance of 40% or less after a card had been used for at least 60%, in line with the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC)'s Standard Terms and Conditions for New-Type Gift Certificates.
However, after refund requests surged following the recent Tank Day marketing controversy, Starbucks decided to temporarily relax the standard and offer full refunds to ease inconvenience for customers.
Customers holding Starbucks Cards can apply for refunds through the mobile app, and refunds are processed within seven business days after the application is submitted. Anonymous physical cards that are not registered in the Starbucks app can also be refunded at stores.y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter