Due to Public Response, 'Iksan Dairom' Issuance Amount Surpasses 102 Billion Won

Subscriber Count Reaches 70,134, Increase in Subscribers After NongHyup Card Issuance

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] Iksan City, Jeonbuk, has surpassed 100 billion KRW in issuance of its local currency 'Dairo-um' just eight months after its launch, as part of efforts to overcome the COVID-19 crisis and revive the local economy.

According to the city on the 20th, as of the 17th, the number of Daio-um subscribers exceeded 70,134, and the issuance amount surpassed 102 billion KRW.

The monthly issuance amount increased nearly fourfold from 4.9 billion KRW in March to 19 billion KRW in April, and has steadily risen to 23.2 billion KRW in June, 18.1 billion KRW in July, and 11.7 billion KRW as of August 17.

The number of subscribers reached 64,262 by last month, with 5,872 new subscribers joining in just this month as of the 17th, pushing the cumulative number of subscribers over 70,000.

This increase in subscribers is attributed to improved accessibility following the availability of issuance through NH Nonghyup Card starting from the 30th of last month.

By age group, subscribers in their 40s were the largest, followed by those in their 50s, 30s, 20s, 70s, and teens.

By usage category, payment amounts were highest at general restaurants, followed by supermarkets/marts, hospitals/pharmacies, academies/education, gas stations, leisure, clothing/accessories/eyewear, and so on. In terms of the number of transactions, supermarkets/marts led, followed by general restaurants, hospitals/pharmacies, cafes/bakeries, gas stations, leisure, and snack bars.

'Iksan Dairo-um' was launched on January 17 with an initial issuance target of 10 billion KRW to promote the virtuous cycle of local funds and revitalize commercial districts. Due to strong public response, the issuance scale was expanded 15-fold to 150 billion KRW annually.

Accordingly, the city is conducting a research project to establish future operational directions and policy foundations for Dairo-um, aiming to verify the effectiveness of policies and the sales increase effect for small business owners resulting from the first half's complex disaster basic income payments (disaster relief funds, 10% Dairo-um charge bonus, and payback).

Additionally, until September 11, a survey will be conducted to collect opinions on Dairo-um from citizens and small business owners. The survey will be carried out online (via the city’s homepage) and offline (through visits by the Small Business Hope Supporters to small business establishments and by placing survey forms at eup/myeon/dong administrative welfare centers).

An Iksan city official stated, “Through the use of Dairo-um, the local community has united to collectively overcome the economic downturn. We will do our best to reflect citizens’ opinions gathered from the ongoing research and survey results to provide better economic policies that benefit our citizens.”

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