Samsung Card, the local credit card exclusively used at Costco Wholesale, has demanded higher commission from Costco, industry sources said on Wednesday.
Samsung reportedly demanded Costco to double the commission rate to up to 1.9 percent from the current 0.7 percent.
The rate imposed on Costco had been significantly lower than the industry average, which is about 1.6 percent, according to the Financial Services Commission.
Aside from Costco, Samsung Card notified its decision to raise rates for up to 600,000 companies it has contracts with.
According to a legal revision, credit card companies are required by the end of the year to raise the interest they receive from contractors whose annual sales exceed 100 billion won.
Credit card firms will be subject to business suspensions if they accept rates lower than 1.5 percent, financial authorities said.
