South Korea's financial authorities took a punitive measure Thursday against Hyundai Card Co., a major local credit card firm affiliated with the Hyundai Motor Group, for "unfair" sale operations.

Hyundai Card infringed on the rights and interests of consumers by unfairly inducing them to change the limit of the "revolving"

service from 100 percent to 10 percent according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Hyundai failed to provide sufficient information on the consequences of the shift in its phone marketing and also gave no clear notice on the terms of additional services on its website or brochures, the regulator said.

The revolving service allows cardholders to pay a certain portion of their outstanding credit balance in flexible installments, not requiring them to pay in full all at once. A maximum interest rate of 20 percent is applied, however.

In a decision made at a sanction review committee that was not legally binding, the FSS issued an official warning to Hyundai and demanded that some related company officials face salary cuts.

The measure has yet to be approved by the head of the FSS. (Yonhap)