Starbucks Korea earns $28.7 mil. in interest from $1.8 bil. in prepaid cards in past 6 years: report
Starbucks Yeouido Hangang Park / Courtesy of Starbucks Korea
A total of 2.6 trillion won ($1.8 billion) has been loaded onto Starbucks Korea's prepaid cards over the past six years, generating 40.8 billion won in interest and investment income, a parliamentary report showed Sunday.
According to the report compiled by the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) and submitted to Rep. Kang Min-kuk, the total value of prepaid transactions reached 2.6 trillion won across more than 81.1 million transactions between January 2020 and August 2025.
Prepayments have risen sharply in recent years from 184.8 billion won in 2020 to 340.2 billion won in 2021, 440.2 billion won in 2022, 545 billion won in 2023 and 660.3 billion won in 2024.
Some 454.4 billion won was added to Starbucks Cards through August this year, with the remaining balance reaching 401.4 billion won as of end-August, up from 180.1 billion won at the end of 2020.
Since 2020, Starbucks Korea has earned 40.8 billion won in interest income by investing prepaid card funds in deposits and trusts.
Of the total, 1.08 trillion won, or 60.5 percent, was deposited in banks, while the rest was invested in non-bank financial products.
Rep. Kang pointed out a legal loophole that exempts such prepaid balances from financial oversight, as the funds can only be used at Starbucks stores.
"Starbucks Korea has earned more than 40 billion won by using customers' money as its own," he said. "This money is beyond the FSS' control, effectively abandoning customers' assets."
In response, Starbucks Korea said it is reviewing ways to manage prepaid funds more safely.
"We will improve the issue as we have received criticism," a Starbucks Korea official said. "We may decide not to make non-bank investments going forward."