From the 18th, Apply for 'Emergency Disaster Relief Fund' Prepaid Cards and Local Gift Certificates at Community Centers

Applying '5-Day Rotation' Based on Head of Household's Birth Year Last Digit... Offline Credit and Debit Card Applications Also Begin

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Starting tomorrow, government emergency disaster relief funds related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) can be applied for and immediately received for use via prepaid cards or local love gift certificates.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 17th that from 9 a.m. on the 18th, applications for emergency disaster relief funds via local love gift certificates and prepaid cards will be accepted at town, township, and neighborhood community service centers nationwide. Some local governments will also offer online applications through their websites or separate portals.

Local love gift certificates and prepaid cards can be applied for on a day-based system according to the last digit of the head of household’s birth year, similar to the mask 5-day rotation system. The head of household must apply in person, but a proxy can apply if they bring a power of attorney.

Applicants can choose to donate all or part of the emergency disaster relief funds they will receive, and the remaining amount after the donation will be paid out.

The government has arranged for the emergency disaster relief funds via local love gift certificates and prepaid cards to be paid immediately on-site upon application. However, if supplies are insufficient in some local governments, the payment date will be separately notified.

Local love gift certificates and prepaid cards have restrictions on the regions and industries where they can be used, similar to credit and debit card recharge funds, and the usage period is set until August 31. Paper-type local love gift certificates are valid for up to five years from the date of issue, but considering the purpose of the emergency disaster relief funds, the government recommends using them by August 31.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety requested local governments nationwide to prepare all payment methods, including local love gift certificates and prepaid cards, to broaden citizens’ choices. However, depending on local government circumstances, sometimes only one of the two payment methods is provided.

Local love gift certificates can only be used within the special/metropolitan city or within the city/county of the province, and each local government sets its own merchant registration and operation standards, so usage locations may differ from those of credit and debit cards.

Prepaid cards provided by 112 local governments are set to be used within the metropolitan area by each local government’s regional restrictions, but some are limited to basic local governments, so users should check accordingly. To reduce confusion, most local governments have set the usable industries the same as credit and debit cards (applying the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s child care coupon usage industries), but some local governments align them with local love gift certificate usage industries.

Usage locations, merchants, and other details for local love gift certificates and prepaid cards can be checked through each local government’s website.

Meanwhile, for those who want to recharge disaster relief funds onto credit or debit cards but found it difficult to apply online via card company websites, offline applications by visiting bank counters linked with card companies will also be possible starting this day. Applications via card company websites or ARS will continue without the day-based system.

Yoon Jong-in, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "The emergency disaster relief funds are designed to be provided through various payment methods so that citizens can choose the most convenient way. Although offline applications have started, since local governments and card companies’ online applications are running in parallel, we ask that people apply online as much as possible considering the social distancing situation due to COVID-19."

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