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Don't miss out: Spend your consumption vouchers and get extra 50,000 won
Shoppers are seen inside an Olive Young store in Seoul, Sunday, where a sign informs customers that the store accepts government-issued voucher-based cash handouts. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Credit card companies have launched a joint promotional event, offering customers a chance to receive up to 50,000 won ($36) if they fully spend their government-issued voucher-based cash handouts by Aug. 31, industry officials said Monday.
Organized collectively by card issuers, the event will be funded entirely through their own budgets, with a total prize pool of 2.5 billion won.
The Lee Jae Myung administration began distributing the cash handouts last week as part of a broad effort to boost domestic consumption and reinvigorate the sluggish economy. Under the program, a one-time payment of 150,000 won or more is being provided to all Korean citizens and eligible foreign residents living in the country as of June 18, with additional support to be offered selectively based on income levels.
Industry officials noted that consumers who use the full amount of their consumption vouchers issued by credit card companies by Aug. 31 will be automatically entered into the event, with no separate application required.
A total of 310,000 winners will be selected — 10,000 will receive a 50,000 won bonus voucher, 100,000 will get 10,000 won, and 200,000 will be awarded 5,000 won.
These bonus vouchers are subject to the same usage restrictions as the original ones — they can only be used at small businesses with annual revenue of 3 billion won or less and are not valid at large retail chains, department stores, online marketplaces or directly operated franchise stores.
The bonus voucher event is being conducted quietly, in accordance with a government advisory discouraging aggressive marketing. The guideline aims to prevent excessive promotional competition related to the consumption voucher initiative.
The first round of voucher applications will remain open until Sept. 12.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, about 36.4 million people, or around 72 percent of eligible recipients, had applied as of Friday since the application process began on July 21.