Gyeonggi-do Requests Increase of Disaster Basic Income Prepaid Card Limit from 500,000 to 2,000,000 Won

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has requested the government to raise the limit of anonymous prepaid cards issued for the purpose of disaster basic income payment from the existing 500,000 KRW to 2,000,000 KRW to ensure rapid payment of disaster basic income and user convenience.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 14th that it requested at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the 9th to temporarily raise the limit of prepaid cards used by the government, the province, and city/county governments to pay disaster support funds.

Currently, under the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act, the issuance limit for anonymous prepaid cards is restricted to 500,000 KRW to minimize damage in case of loss and prevent crime. The limit for registered prepaid cards is 5,000,000 KRW.

The province emphasized the need to raise the limit as the province and 18 city/county local governments within the province decided to jointly provide disaster basic income, resulting in situations where the prepaid card limit for payments starting from the 20th will exceed 500,000 KRW.

In fact, when Gyeonggi Province’s 100,000 KRW and the city/county local governments’ 100,000 KRW disaster basic income are paid simultaneously via prepaid cards, a family of four receives a total of 800,000 KRW, which requires issuing two prepaid cards due to the 500,000 KRW limit per card.

The province produced 2.5 million prepaid cards assuming in-person applications for prepaid cards instead of local currency cards and credit card methods, which about 45% of the total 5.5 million households in the province (2.5 million households) apply for online.

However, since 18 city/county governments decided to pay simultaneously with Gyeonggi Province, an additional 2 million prepaid cards need to be produced to cover the excess amount beyond the limit.

The province expects that producing an additional 2 million cards will increase costs from the original 2.5 billion KRW (1,000 KRW per card) to 4.5 billion KRW, an increase of 2 billion KRW.

Gyeonggi Province’s judgment is that the limit increase is urgent because not only Gyeonggi Province’s disaster basic income but also the government’s emergency disaster relief funds require issuing two prepaid cards to households of two or more people receiving over 500,000 KRW when paid via prepaid cards.

A provincial official said, "In response to the province’s urgent request, Son Byung-doo, Vice Chairman of the Financial Services Commission, who attended the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the 13th, responded that 'the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act will be promptly pursued,' so we expect a temporary limit increase to be possible."

Since the 9th, the province has been accepting online applications and paying disaster basic income together with 18 city/county local governments through local currency cards and credit card methods.

The city/county governments paying simultaneously with the province are Yongin, Seongnam, Bucheon, Hwaseong, Pyeongtaek, Siheung, Uijeongbu, Gimpo, Gwangmyeong, Hanam, Yangju, Icheon, Anseong, Uiwang, Yangpyeong, Yeoju, Dongducheon, and Gwacheon.

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