[Ki Ha-young's Life Card] Get a 10,000 Won Discount After 4 Weekend Dining Visits... Where and How to Receive It

Resumption of Dining Out Coupons from 30th Last Month
Get 10,000 KRW Refund After 4 Payments Over 20,000 KRW
Must Apply Through Card Company to Receive

[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 various stories related to cards, which are inseparable from our consumer life, through the weekly 'Cards in Daily Life' corner, from introducing new cards to industry behind-the-scenes and guides for card beginners.

Starting this weekend, the government has resumed the distribution of dining discount coupons, which had been temporarily suspended due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

From 4 p.m. on the 30th of last month, applications can be made through nine card companies (KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup, Lotte, BC, Samsung, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Hyundai) via a lottery. The method is that if you use dining establishments three times on weekends (each payment over 20,000 KRW from Friday 4 p.m. to Sunday midnight), you will receive a 10,000 KRW refund (cashback or billing discount) on the fourth dining. In other words, if you dine four times on weekends spending 20,000 KRW each time, you can get 10,000 KRW back.

Who, Where, and How to Receive?

To receive the 10,000 KRW dining coupon, you must apply individually to each card company. Applications are made through each card company's customer center, website, or application (app) dining coupon-related page. The dining coupons will be distributed to the first 3.3 million people on a first-come, first-served basis, and the event will end once the coupons are exhausted. Since the event was temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 and then resumed, dining performances made before the suspension (August 13-15) will also be retroactively applied. After achieving four uses, you can continue to participate and receive another 10,000 KRW if coupons remain.

Usage is recognized when paying over 20,000 KRW at all dining establishments except entertainment venues. Orders placed through delivery apps with on-site payment are also counted. However, even if it is a regular restaurant, places located in train stations, large marts, discount stores, department stores, or shopping malls cannot be confirmed as affiliated stores and thus are not counted. Department store food courts are a typical example.

Each card company counts up to two uses per day, and the same establishment is limited to once per day. For example, if you spend 20,000 KRW at McDonald's during lunch, going again to McDonald's for dinner will not count. If you spend 20,000 KRW at Starbucks in the morning and 20,000 KRW at a Chinese restaurant at lunch, going to a chicken restaurant for dinner will not be counted.

Where to Check Dining Coupon Usage?

The way each card company informs about dining coupon usage differs slightly. Real-time text notifications would be convenient. Samsung Card provides real-time cumulative usage counts and amounts via text or AlimTalk notifications. Of course, usage details can also be checked on their website and app. Shinhan Card allows you to view spending details and cashback status in real-time on the government expenditure consumption coupon menu for emergency disaster relief funds within their website or app.

Hyundai Card also sends real-time texts about usage counts when visiting dining establishments. Starting this week, they plan to release a service to check cumulative amounts on their website or app. KB Kookmin Card is developing a system to provide real-time text notifications and website usage inquiry services. Hana Card sends usage notifications via text every Thursday and is developing a system to check usage on their website and app. BC Card and Lotte Card also plan to open pages for usage inquiry on their websites and apps within this week.

Shinhan Card is also running an event where 3,000 customers who applied for the dining event through MyShop will be selected by lottery to receive Starbucks coupons. Additionally, until the dining coupons are exhausted, first-time MyShop users (customers who downloaded dining coupons via MyShop) will receive 100 points each.

Although the consumption coupon event has resumed to stimulate domestic demand, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases still exceeds 100. Since there is a risk of cluster infections if people gather densely, weekend dining is good, but thorough quarantine measures must not be forgotten.

[Image source=Yonhap News]