Bar owners want card commission cuts too

Joining in on the popular outrage directed at credit card firms, bar and karaoke owners demanded Wednesday that they benefit from the same reduction in credit card commission rates as restaurant owners.

“People in the nightspot business are discriminated against by credit card companies, which excluded us from their plan to lower commission cuts for small proprietors,” said Oh Ho-seok, head of the Korea Central Council for Nightspot Business.

Local card issuers announced earlier this week plans to lower commission rates they apply to small proprietors with sales of less than 200 million won a year. The plans, which call for the rates to come down from the current levels of above 2 percent to around 1.8 percent, however, exclude bars, nightclubs, karaoke bars and other adult entertainment places.

Oh said his organization, with more than 600,000 members, will host a huge rally next month, apparently taking a cue from restaurant owners.

“We will show our collective clout by holding a demonstration of more than 100,000 participants next month,” he said.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of restaurant owners gathered in Olympic Stadium in southeastern Seoul for a much-publicized rally, demanding the rates be slashed further to 1.5 percent. Major politicians from the country’s two main political parties and key candidates in next week’s Seoul mayoral by-election attended in a show of support.

Credit card companies earn nearly half of their total income in commissions from member merchants. This year, they are expected to rake in a combined net profit of 2 trillion won, the highest on record.

By Lee Sun-young  (milaya@heraldcorp.com)