A customer orders food and beverage at a Starbucks Korea store in Seoul on Dec. 10, 2020. Korea Times file

By Kim Jae-heun

Customers are urging Starbucks Korea to change its terms for its prepaid card system that does not return remaining credit after five-year expiration date.

"It is not right for Starbucks to take the money that I put on my card. None of the banks or financial services do this," an office worker surnamed Seo said. "Even the department store coupons do not set an expiration date when customers purchase with cash."

The American coffeehouse chain stipulates the prepaid charging service as a non-versatile e-coupon that will cause unused funds to disappear or eventually goes to the company after a five-year expiration date.

It further insisted that the company compensates the balance on new cards issued when customers' request a refund, although if they miss the expiration date, then the money goes to the firm.

"We have endeavored to explain this issue in all our coffee shops but I think there has been confusion at some of our branches," a Starbucks Korea official said.

When the prepaid card system was first introduced back in 2009, the initial deposits total only reached 2.1 billion won.

However, the figure soared 90 times in the space of 10 years and the launch of the "silent order" service in 2014, helps customers to order drinks online with money deposited in their cards, played a key role in increasing the amount of "forgotten money" dramatically.

Considering that about 5 percent to 6 percent of the money deposited in prepaid cards is left unused every year and local customers have deposited over 200 billion won this year alone, Starbucks' windfall is expected to surge to 12 billion won in the next five years.

The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) said that its five years of standard terms and conditions that Starbucks Korea follows is the minimum guarantee period and the gift certificate issuer elects to employ the five-year expiration policy.