Donation Points for Purchasing Small Business Products on 11st and SK Store

[Asia Economy Reporter Joeslgina] When purchasing products from small business owners and social enterprises on 11st and SK Stoa, donation points are accumulated.

SK Telecom announced on the 19th that it has newly launched the ‘Happiness Credit’ program linking customers’ ‘good consumption’ with donations.

‘Happiness Credit’ is a new concept donation program operated by SK Telecom. When customers purchase products from social enterprises or small business owners on 11st or SK Stoa, SK Telecom accumulates donation-only points according to the customer’s payment amount, and the accumulated points are fully donated to social contribution projects at the end of the year.

SK Telecom operated ‘Happiness Credit’ as a pilot program from July to October last year. A total of 43,685 customers participated in last year’s ‘Happiness Credit’, and a total donation amount of 505.48 million KRW was used for support projects for elderly people living alone and disabled youth.

SK Telecom has fully revamped and operates ‘Happiness Credit’ as a regular program. The participation target has been expanded from existing SK Telecom customers to all mobile carriers’ customers, and convenience has been improved by making donation point accumulation and donation automatic when paying with SK Pay. This year, SK Telecom also plans to donate the ‘Happiness Credit’ accumulated funds to support vulnerable groups.

Customers who wish to participate in ‘Happiness Credit’ can purchase ‘Happiness Credit’ eligible products on 11st and SK Stoa with SK Pay starting from the 20th. Donation-only points equivalent to 1% of the 11st payment amount and 50% for SK Stoa will be accumulated. Products eligible for ‘Happiness Credit’ can be found on the special exhibition page and individual product detail pages, and detailed accumulation records can be checked through each accumulation site and the SK Pay application.

From the 28th, T map Taxi will also be added as an accumulation site, and 100 credits of donation points will be accumulated per transaction when using app payment. SK Telecom’s T map Taxi has been making various efforts to create social value, such as working with the social enterprise Coactors, which operates ‘Silent Taxi’, to create a T map Taxi app exclusively for hearing-impaired taxi drivers.

Through the 11st and SK Stoa ‘Happiness Credit’ programs, SK Telecom introduces various products from small business owners, small-scale farms, and social enterprises struggling due to COVID-19. In particular, SK Stoa plans to showcase about 100 products from nine social enterprises and cooperatives in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.

SK Telecom plans to hold various prize events on its official SNS channels and SK Pay app to encourage more customers to take interest and participate in ‘Happiness Credit’. At the end of the year, 50 customers who actively practiced ‘good consumption’ will be selected and given lucky boxes consisting of social enterprise products.

Ryu Byung-hoon, head of SK Telecom’s Management Strategy Group, said, “With this revamp, we expect to create social value together with more customers,” and added, “We will continue to discover innovative business models that can coexist with society.”