Last Year, Paper Gift Certificate Issuance Amounted to 12.9 Trillion Won... Largest Scale Ever

Annual Increase in Gift Certificate Issuance Scale
Retailers Favor 100,000 Won Denominations
Assemblyman Goh Yong-jin: "Urgent Need for System Improvement"

Department store paper gift certificate.

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Chun-han and Jeon Jin-young] As the trend of contactless and online consumption expands due to COVID-19, the issuance scale of paper gift certificates last year nearly reached 13 trillion won. However, the management and supervision of gift certificates are virtually in a blind spot, resulting in increasing consumer damages every year.

According to data obtained by Asia Economy through the office of Assemblyman Ko Yong-jin of the Democratic Party of Korea from the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation on the 29th, the issuance scale of paper gift certificates last year recorded an all-time high of 12.9 trillion won. This is analyzed to be due to their high utilization as gifts for parents on occasions such as Parents' Day and holidays, or when it is difficult to choose an appropriate gift due to not knowing the recipient's preferences. By year, the amounts were 8.4 trillion won in 2017, 9.6 trillion won in 2018, 9.6 trillion won in 2019, and 11.5 trillion won in 2020.

By industry, distributors issued 134.9 million certificates, oil companies 7.32 million, Onnuri certificates 335 million, and local governments (local love gift certificates) 371.76 million, totaling approximately 848.98 million certificates issued. From January to May this year, distributors issued 22.19 million, oil companies 2.18 million, Onnuri (traditional market gift certificates) 24.38 million, and local governments 96.27 million, totaling about 145.03 million certificates issued. By face value, distributors most frequently issued 100,000 won certificates, oil companies 50,000 won certificates, and traditional markets 10,000 won certificates.

Assemblyman Ko emphasized, "The scale of gift certificate issuance is increasing every year. It is particularly risky when paper gift certificates with silver foil scratch features are traded at places other than official sales outlets," adding, "Gift certificates can be considered as good as cash, so institutional improvements are urgently needed."