선불충전금 보호 규제의 적절성 검토와 개선방안 -B2B 모바일 상품권 거래를 중심으로

초록

This study examines whether the current regulatory framework for the protection of prepaid funds adequately reflects the transaction structure of B2B mobile gift certificates. It focuses on the regulatory treatment of mobile gift certificates after their incorporation into the regime for prepaid electronic payment means under the amended Electronic Financial Transactions Act. Following the Merge Point incident and the TMON–WeMakePrice settlement failure, regulatory measures such as the separate management obligation for prepaid funds and the expansion of registration as a prepaid electronic financial business operator have been strengthened. While these measures are important for the protection of users’ funds and market confidence, they remain largely oriented toward B2C transactions and do not fully reflect the structural characteristics and fund flows of B2B transactions. The main issue addressed in this study is the mismatch between the party that holds the payment funds and the party that bears the separate deposit obligation. In B2B mobile gift certificate transactions, corporate clients often purchase certificates in bulk for marketing or promotional purposes, while issuers receive the issuance payment only after a certain period. Nevertheless, issuers are required to separately deposit prepaid funds before receiving payment, using their own or borrowed funds. This structure may impose substantial liquidity burdens and financing costs on issuers, particularly small and medium-sized issuers. The study also considers the similarity between B2B mobile gift certificates and welfare points, as end users do not directly pay consideration in either case. However, differences in regulatory treatment may create regulatory arbitrage and market distortion. Accordingly, this study suggests shortening the payment period for corporate clients to the time of issuance or shortly thereafter, and applying the separate management obligation more flexibly in light of the fund flows and risk levels of B2B transactions. This analysis suggests that mobile gift certificate regulation should be differentiated by transaction type, fund flow, and risk level.

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