Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company.
Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated.
The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay.
Photo: CNA
On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods.
Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual outlets to make their own decision about whether to continue their association with Jkopay.
Jkopay, which serves more than 6.5 million users in Taiwan, told the Central News Agency on Saturday that user withdrawals have stabilized, with daily balances returning to a normal level of NT$4 billion (US$137 million) after Jkopay chairman Jacob Mei (梅驊) said a day earlier that the company operates independently from its parent company and all funds involved in its services are held in trust.
The company said there was no run on its users’ accounts.
The wave of suspensions began on Friday, when E-Life Mall Corp (全國電子), a major 3C distributor in Taiwan, became the first Jkopay partner to cut ties. That came just one day after police executed a court-ordered seizure of assets belonging to Jkopay’s parent firm, Jko Fintech Co (街口金融科技), in connection with a NT$3.6 billion claim filed by food conglomerate Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業).
Other retailers, including e-commerce platforms PChome Online Inc (網路家庭), Shopee and Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體), quickly followed suit. However, Momo and PChome resumed Jkopay services later that day at about 11pm.
The asset seizure stems from a ruling by the Taipei District Court in May, which found a 2023 deal for Taisun to acquire a 40 percent stake in Jko Fintech to be invalid. The court ordered Jko Fintech to return the NT$3.6 billion paid by Taisun, along with 5 percent interest.
Jko Fintech has contested the ruling, maintaining the deal was legitimate and attributing the dispute to internal infighting among the company’s management, and refused to return the money.
The court-ordered seizure of assets followed a petition filed by Taisun.
The Financial Supervisory Commission said that Jkopay’s assets are under the agency’s supervision and would not be affected by the district court’s ruling against Jko Fintech.
As of Saturday, fast food chains McDonald’s Taiwan and Burger King, both partners of Jkopay, said the digital payment service provider remained operational at their restaurants.
McDonald’s Taiwan said all third-party payment services at its restaurants are available as usual, while Burger King said it has not received any notice of any digital payment changes.
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