Dongbanwi Provides 50,000 Free Simple Payment Terminals and Kiosks to Small Business Owners

NFC, QR Code Payment Terminals and Unmanned Kiosk Deployment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] The Win-Win Growth Committee (Chairman Kwon Ki-hong) and the Credit Card Social Contribution Foundation (Chairman Kim Juhyun) announced on the 23rd that they will provide more than 50,000 credit card simple payment terminals free of charge this year as well, following last year, to support the management of small-scale micro-businesses and self-employed individuals.

This free distribution is part of the "Credit Card Micro-Merchant Support Project," jointly conducted by the Win-Win Growth Committee and the card industry, supporting the distribution of new payment method terminals that enable payments via Near Field Communication (NFC) and QR codes, as well as kiosks capable of unmanned payments.

Through this project, the Win-Win Growth Committee explained that they aim to improve the business environment by distributing new payment infrastructure utilizing digital technologies such as contactless and unmanned payments to micro-merchants, enabling them to respond to the rapidly spreading non-face-to-face and digitalization trends across all social sectors.

The card industry has established a plan to support a total of 40 billion KRW through the Credit Card Foundation by 2023. Since last year, all domestic VAN (Value Added Network) companies have participated in developing new terminals and distributing them to merchants nationwide. More than 25,000 merchants across the country benefited from the first phase of the support project by the first half of this year.

A survey on the management status and satisfaction of terminals among 1,000 supported merchants showed that after installing the terminals, operational convenience increased due to support for various payment methods desired by customers, and kiosk installation helped reduce labor costs.

A, who runs a one-person cafe in Gangneung, said, “Due to the regional characteristics, customers flock during the vacation season, but it was burdensome to hire staff for a short period. Receiving support for a kiosk made it easier to operate the store alone, and customer satisfaction is high due to the selection of simple payment methods and reduced waiting times.”

B, who operates a beauty salon in Daegu, also said, “Due to the nature of the business, I looked for ways to minimize customer contact during COVID-19 and switched to new payment method terminals. Customers can choose their payment method themselves and make payments directly with just their phones, which helps with hygiene.”

The Win-Win Growth Committee and the Credit Card Foundation plan to expand the scale of the second support project to more than 50,000 units and relax the eligibility criteria from businesses operating for more than two years to one year, providing customized terminals to more micro-merchants.

Starting this year, merchants can choose an "all-in-one terminal" equipped with NFC and QR code payment functions integrated into the credit card payment terminal (CAT). Also, micro-merchants using credit card payment terminals can receive support except for certain industries such as entertainment and nightlife.

Kim Juhyun, Chairman of the Credit Card Foundation, said, “I hope this helps micro self-employed individuals who are struggling due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic reduce labor costs and maintain hygiene safety.”

Kwon Ki-hong, Chairman of the Win-Win Growth Committee, said, “This project is an excellent example of win-win cooperation between small business owners and the card industry to overcome the difficult times caused by COVID-19. We expect that supporting new payment methods (NFC, QR code payments, etc.) for small business owners will reduce the digital gap, cut labor costs, strengthen their competitiveness, and help them overcome management crises.”

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