'Gwangju Sangsaeng Card' Established as Local Currency in Just One Year Since Launch

Used by 320,000 People, Issued 140 Billion Won, Serving as a ‘Hero’ for the Local Economy

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City’s ‘Gwangju Sangsaeng Card,’ issued in March last year to prevent the outflow of local capital and revitalize the local economy by increasing sales for small business owners and self-employed individuals, has gained great popularity among citizens, with over 140 billion KRW issued within one year of its launch.

According to Gwangju City on the 18th, as of the end of last month, approximately 97,000 people have signed up for the Gwangju Sangsaeng Card, accounting for more than 6.7% of Gwangju’s population.

Over the past year, the total number of users reached 320,000, including 131,000 for the check card and 189,000 for the prepaid card, with a total issuance of 265,148 cards amounting to 140.4 billion KRW.

Among these, 47,560 check cards worth 47 billion KRW and 217,588 prepaid cards worth 93.4 billion KRW were issued.

The Gwangju Sangsaeng Card sold more than 30 times the amount of another prepaid card product issued by Gwangju Bank during the same period (3 billion KRW).

The card’s popularity is attributed to the 10% special discount benefit, allowing users to receive up to 100,000 KRW in discounts per person by combining 50,000 KRW on the check card and 50,000 KRW on the prepaid card, as well as the convenience of being usable at any local business except department stores, large marts, and entertainment bars.

From the merchants’ perspective, the policy of fully supporting card payment fees for merchants with annual sales under 1 billion KRW, which account for 78% of all merchants, has been well received as it provides incentives to both users and small business owners.

As the first purely card-type local currency introduced nationwide, the Gwangju Sangsaeng Card is regarded as a successful model of local currency due to its advantages such as ease of use in card form, no need for separate merchant registration procedures, and mutual incentives for users and merchants. It is reported that other local governments are benchmarking and inquiring about its introduction.

The discount support budget for card use amounted to a total of 12.8 billion KRW over the first year, including 3.6 billion KRW for check cards and 9.2 billion KRW for prepaid cards, providing users with an average monthly discount of about 31,000 KRW per person for check cards and about 49,000 KRW per person for prepaid cards.

By age group, the 40s (34%), 50s (21%), and 30s (19%)?who are economically active?accounted for 74% of total usage. By industry, distribution businesses such as marts and supermarkets accounted for 23%, followed by restaurants at 20%, showing active usage.

In particular, users and merchants have expressed positive opinions such as ▲ the Sangsaeng Card’s discount rate helps household finances ▲ it is a policy supporting small business owners and self-employed individuals ▲ sales made through the Sangsaeng Card receive cashback of merchant card fees the month after payment.

To improve the convenience of using the Gwangju Sangsaeng Card, from January 1 this year, the issuance of check cards was expanded from individuals only to include corporations and organizations, and the issuance criteria for prepaid and check cards, which had caused confusion due to different age requirements, were unified to 14 years and older.

In response to the recent COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting contraction of the local economy, Gwangju City is pushing to secure additional support budgets to significantly increase the original issuance target of 300 billion KRW, and plans to continue the 10% special discount for the time being.

Park Nam-eon, Director of the Gwangju City Job and Economy Office, said, “The Gwangju Sangsaeng Card is gaining increasing interest by providing mutual benefits to users and small business owners and is contributing to the revitalization of local shopping districts. We will improve services, such as allowing discount benefits on prepaid card recharges, and actively support the local economy, which is struggling due to COVID-19, through administrative and financial measures.”

Meanwhile, Gwangju City plans to hold a prize event to celebrate the first anniversary of the Gwangju Sangsaeng Card. The event will run from the 20th, the first anniversary, to June 19, targeting customers with cumulative usage of 300,000 KRW or more, and plans to provide Sangsaeng Cards as prizes through an electronic draw around the end of June.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.