[Gi Ha-Young's Everyday Card] "Please throw away the receipt"... Now you don't have to say it anymore

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young]Is there anyone these days without at least one credit card? In modern society, anyone can have a card if they want. Credit cards have brought unparalleled convenience to daily life. Now, wherever you go, you can easily see people paying with credit cards or smartphones. As demand has increased, cards with various benefits are being released almost daily. Accordingly, Asia Economy delivers diverse stories related to cards, which are inseparable from our consumer life, through the weekly 'Cards in Daily Life' corner, including introductions to new cards, behind-the-scenes industry stories, and guides for card beginners.

"Would you like a receipt?" "No, please throw it away."

This is a common conversation after card payments, right? From next month, you won’t have to say "Please throw away the receipt." This is because, starting from the 11th, the revised Enforcement Decree of the Value-Added Tax Act has implemented 'optional issuance of card receipts.'

Optional issuance of card receipts means that before receiving a paper receipt after using a card, you can choose whether to print the receipt on the card terminal. Previously, receipts were printed automatically, and unnecessary receipts had to be discarded, but now you can choose before printing.

If you need a receipt, you can receive it as before; if not, you can opt not to print it at all. However, in the case of installment transactions, the 'Act on Installment Transactions' requires that matters related to withdrawal of subscription and exercise of defense rights be provided to consumers, so receipts are still automatically issued to protect consumers.

This raises some questions. For example, receipts were required for exchanges or refunds?how does this work now? According to the Korea Financial Telecommunications & Clearings Institute, exchanges and refunds are possible even without a physical card receipt. However, the physical card used for the payment must be presented, and approval numbers, usage date and time, and amounts necessary for canceling the card payment should be checked in advance via the card company’s website or application (app).

Also, if you need the card receipt again, you can simply request it from the merchant where you used the card. If revisiting the merchant is difficult or you need past receipts, you can print them from the card company’s website or receive them through the call center.

Even without a card receipt, card usage details can be confirmed through text messages sent by the card company, mobile notification messages such as KakaoTalk, and the card company’s website and app. The card industry plans to improve accessibility to websites and mobile apps so consumers can conveniently check their card usage details.

This revision of the enforcement decree reflects the fact that most paper card receipts are discarded on-site and that various means to check card usage details, such as text messages and KakaoTalk, have become more diverse. The industry expects to save about 50 to 60 billion KRW in paper receipt issuance costs.