Incheon Yeonsu-gu "Let's Revitalize Neighborhood Businesses"... Local Currency Benefits + Creation of Specialized Pilot Streets

Designated as Pilot Street After Two Public Competitions
Support Including Joint Marketing and Additional Cashback

Yeonsu e-eum Card

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Yeonsu-gu, which is leading the local currency policy in Incheon, is creating the 'Yeonsu e-eum Benefits+ (Plus) Specialized Pilot Street' to revive the local commercial district that has been stagnated due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district announced on the 12th that it will start a full-scale Benefits+ specialized pilot street creation project from this month to expand the Yeonsu e-eum Benefits+ policy and revive alleyway commercial districts through the specialization of commercial areas.

Yeonsu e-eum Benefits+ is a policy where affiliated stores offer a 3-7% upfront discount on their own payment amount, and Incheon City provides a basic 10% cashback, with Yeonsu-gu adding an existing 2% cashback and a 5% special COVID cashback, returning an additional 7% cashback.

Since April this year, Yeonsu-gu has been providing the highest discount and cashback benefits in Incheon, ranging from 20% to 24%, by adding a 5% special COVID cashback to the existing Yeonsu e-eum Benefits+ discount for local small business owners struggling due to COVID-19.

The district plans to take a step further by expanding the scope of the Benefits+ affiliated business to the commercial district level and creating the Yeonsu e-eum Benefits+ specialized pilot street to maximize the aggregated benefits of affiliated stores through active support for small business owners and self-employed individuals.

Through two announcements this month and next March, the district plans to designate and operate at least two Benefits+ specialized pilot streets each time. These areas will be supported with festivals, streetlight banners, design promotional screens, and Benefits+ store notification banners.

Applications for designation of Benefits+ specialized pilot streets are open until the 30th. Merchant associations in areas located in Yeonsu-gu with more than 60 stores within the range and a Benefits+ affiliated store ratio exceeding 33% can apply.

The district plans to designate and operate areas with more than 100 stores and a Benefits+ affiliated store ratio of over 50% as Benefits+ specialized streets within next year, providing various benefits including additional cashback.

The scene of Seonhak-dong 'Osipsiyeong Street Festival'
[Photo by Incheon Yeonsu-gu]

So far, the district has operated various street festivals by region in cooperation with merchant associations, in addition to the annual Seonhak-dong 'Osipsiyeong Street Festival' held for commercial district revitalization in line with the launch of the local currency Yeonsu e-eum.

In particular, last year, specialized street festivals such as Hambak Village Store Byeolbyeol Festival (June), Cheonghak Jazz & Live Day (June), Yeonsu-dong Food Alley Yeonsu e-eum Festa and Yeonsu Cosplay Festival (June), and Dongchun Shopping Alley Picnic Festival (November) received positive responses from residents.

Gonam-seok, Mayor of Yeonsu-gu, stated, "Through the Benefits+ specialized pilot streets, we hope to better inform residents about the Benefits+ policy and provide an opportunity to warm up the alleyway commercial districts frozen by COVID-19."

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