Gyeonggi-do 'Child Meal Card' Usable at All Restaurants Starting August

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Starting in August, children using the 'Child Meal Card' (G Dream Card) will be able to dine at all restaurants within Gyeonggi Province. Until now, the G Dream Card could only be used at designated restaurants or convenience stores due to system limitations.

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 21st that from August, the system will be completely improved so that children eligible for meal support can use the G Dream Card confidently and without discrimination at all general restaurants in the province.

To this end, the province has devised a plan to automatically link BC Card's general restaurant affiliates to the G Dream Card. After continuous consultations for over a year with NongHyup Bank Gyeonggi Business Headquarters, the Central Association, and BC Card, a final agreement on system improvement was reached last January.

Key improvements include automatically linking all BC Card general restaurant affiliates to the G Dream Card and completely replacing the existing magnetic cards with IC cards designed like general check cards to prevent third parties from easily recognizing them. Additionally, a mobile app has been developed so that children can easily check their balance via smartphones and other devices.

Once the system improvement is completed, the number of G Dream Card affiliated stores will dramatically increase from the current 11,500 to 124,000.

The 200 million KRW cost required for the system improvement will be borne by NongHyup Bank, the operator of the G Dream Card system, as part of its social contribution projects.

The province plans to collect opinions through city and county meetings next month, complete system construction and app development from March to July, and distribute the new IC cards starting in July.

The province’s meal support project for children at risk of food insecurity provides meals to 65,000 children under 18 who are at risk due to poverty or parental unemployment, with budgets shared by the province and city/county governments. Notably, since Governor Lee Jae-myung took office, the meal unit price in Gyeonggi Province has been significantly increased from 4,500 KRW to 6,000 KRW per meal.

Ryu Soon-yeol, head of the province’s Child Welfare Team, explained, "This complete overhaul of the G Dream Card system is a measure to ensure that children receiving meal support can eat confidently anywhere without discrimination, helping them gain confidence as members of society."

Meanwhile, the G Dream Card, introduced in 2010, was designed to be used only at affiliated stores and had limitations in use due to avoidance of restaurants. In fact, among the 11,500 total G Dream Card affiliated stores, convenience stores accounted for 8,900, or 77%, so most children used the card mainly at convenience stores rather than general restaurants.

Furthermore, because the card was produced as a magnetic card with a distinct design, third parties other than the user could immediately recognize it as a meal card, causing stigma among the children using it. Also, balance and affiliated store inquiries were only possible via PC, causing significant inconvenience in use.