"One App for Electronic Receipt Lookup Completed" Ministry of Science and ICT Signs Agreement with KT, Naver, and Others

[Asia Economy Reporter Seol Gina Jo] An integrated platform will be established where detailed transaction information electronic receipts can be viewed in a single application such as PASS or Naver, instead of paper receipts.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 21st that it signed a business agreement with KT, Naver, Korea Internet & Security Agency, Gyeonggi Province, and others to promote the widespread adoption of electronic receipts. Following the revision of the Electronic Documents Act to allow receipts to be sent in electronic document form with user consent, the ministry plans to build an electronic receipt platform and mobile application that anyone can issue and use, aiming to expand usage.

Paper receipts have long been criticized for various issues such as inconvenience in processing and storage, harmful effects of ink on human health, non-recyclability (waste disposal), environmental pollution caused by greenhouse gas emissions, and concerns about personal information leakage. Currently, some companies provide electronic receipt inquiry services linked with credit card companies, but there are problems with verifying prices by transaction item and difficulties in exchanges and refunds. Large retailers provide receipts including detailed transaction information, but due to proprietary systems, there is no interoperability between companies, causing inconvenience.

The agreement includes participation from the Ministry of Environment, Gyeonggi Province, Korea Internet & Security Agency, KT, Naver, NHN PAYCO, Smartro, and NICE Information & Telecommunication.

The Ministry of Science and ICT and Korea Internet & Security Agency, through a pilot project, built a standard-based platform with KT that various VAN operators handling offline payment agency services can connect to. Additionally, together with Smartro and NICE Information & Telecommunication, they are developing software (SW) that can generate electronic receipts containing detailed transaction information at merchants' POS terminals and send them to the platform, and are supporting software upgrades for POS terminals at 1,000 small and medium-sized merchants nationwide.

The signatory organizations plan to implement related functions so that users can view electronic receipts through the PASS app, Naver app, and PAYCO app. The PASS app will be launched in January next year, and the Naver and PAYCO apps will be implemented within next year. In the future, they will also cooperate to promote awareness and expand usage of electronic receipt services through nationwide campaigns.

The Ministry of Science and ICT expects that the expanded use of electronic receipts will greatly improve public convenience and reduce environmental pollution such as greenhouse gas emissions caused by paper receipt usage, contributing significantly to achieving the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ goal.

Kim Jung-won, Director of the Information and Communication Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said, “I believe that digital transformation that people can feel in their daily lives is the true Fourth Industrial Revolution, and mobile electronic notifications and electronic receipts will be representative examples.” He added, “Building on this agreement, we will widely promote electronic receipts to the public and work closely to enable small and medium-sized merchants nationwide to issue electronic receipts.”