Lotte Card has issued a formal apology to Lotte Group, which owns the "Lotte" brand, after the card company received a business suspension over a customer data leak. The apology addressed confusion caused by Lotte Card's use of the "Lotte" name, despite being a separate company from Lotte Group.
Lotte Group said on the 4th that it had received a formal apology from Lotte Card regarding the aftermath of the personal information leak. In the apology letter sent recently to Lotte Group under the name of its chief executive, Lotte Card said, "We apologize for the inconvenience caused to Lotte Holdings and the customers of each affiliate as a result of these measures," and added, "We will focus on customer service so that customers using Lotte affiliates do not experience inconvenience even during the partial business suspension period."
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) previously imposed a final penalty on Lotte Card on the 31st of last month, including a 1.5-month business suspension and a 5 billion won fine, over a hacking incident last year that leaked the personal information of 2.97 million customers. During this process, because Lotte Card still uses the "Lotte" brand, inquiries reportedly continued from customers who mistook it for a Lotte Group affiliate.
After launching its holding company structure in 2017, Lotte Group separated Lotte Card from its affiliates in 2019 by selling its stake to MBK Partners. MBK Partners has since taken over management, operating the company under a management system separate from Lotte Group.
"Even after the sale of the Lotte Card stake, it continues to use the 'Lotte' brand, so many customers still mistake it for a Lotte affiliate," a Lotte Group official said. "We plan to cooperate with Lotte Card so that customers using our affiliate stores can use services without inconvenience."
