Busan City Accepts Dongbaekjeon Franchise Registration Until End of September in Preparation for 'Local Gift Certificate Act' Implementation
Franchise Owners Can Easily Register via Text Message or Apply through Website and Dongbaekjeon App
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The operation method of Busan local currency ‘Dongbaekjeon’ is changing, and applications for merchant registration are being accepted.
From October, only merchants who have directly applied for registration by the merchant owner (business operator) will be able to process payments, as the ‘Act on the Promotion of Use of Local Love Gift Certificates’ will be applied.
Busan City announced on the 2nd that it will accept applications for Dongbaekjeon merchant registration for one month until the 30th, targeting merchants currently able to accept Dongbaekjeon payments.
Although Dongbaekjeon cannot be used in some restricted sectors such as large supermarkets, it has been popular because it can be used at 90% of merchants (180,000 out of 200,000) in Busan where card payments are possible without a separate merchant registration process, just like a regular card.
Since its launch on December 30 last year, as of the end of August, the number of subscribers has reached 850,000, and the amount used has reached 920 billion KRW.
However, due to the recent enforcement of the ‘Local Love Gift Certificate Act’, from October, Dongbaekjeon payments will not be possible at merchants who have not directly applied for registration by the merchant owner (business operator). To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the city has decided to accept merchant registration applications online only.
Applications can be made by entering business and merchant information through the ‘Apply for Merchant Registration’ link after receiving a text message sent individually to each merchant owner (business operator).
If you did not receive the text message, you can apply directly through the Busan City website and the Dongbaekjeon application or website. Unregistered merchants will not be able to accept Dongbaekjeon payments from October.
Busan City will individually review eligibility such as whether the business is in a restricted sector and whether it is a directly managed branch of a headquarters in another region by the end of September, and announce the results of the Dongbaekjeon merchant registration application. After October, the city plans to promote merchant registration targeting new merchants and those who have not applied.
Lee Yoon-jae, Director of Livelihood and Labor Policy at Busan City, said, “Since Dongbaekjeon has been used at more than 90% of merchants where card payments are possible in Busan, we hope that all merchant owners will apply without omission, creating a win-win effect of cashback benefits for citizens and increased sales for small business owners.”
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