Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation, 'Chak' Surpasses 2.2 Million Cumulative Subscribers

The cumulative number of subscribers to the blockchain-based public platform ‘Chak’ has surpassed 2.2 million.

‘Chak’ is an abbreviation for ‘Change for Korea’ and is a mobile local gift certificate brand established by the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation in 2019.

Exterior view of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation headquarters in Daejeon. Provided by Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation

According to the Minting Corporation on the 17th, the number of Chak subscribers steadily increased from 140,000 in 2019, the year of its introduction, to 670,000 in the following year, and 1.47 million in 2021, showing strong momentum by exceeding 2.2 million as of the end of last month.

As the number of subscribers grew, the amount of gift certificates issued through ‘Chak’ also increased. The annual issuance amount grew from 66.3 billion KRW in 2019 to 2.5 trillion KRW in 2022. Additionally, the Minting Corporation estimates that the cumulative issuance amount reached 4.5 trillion KRW by last year.

The rapid nationwide expansion of the ‘Chak’ service in a short period is analyzed to be due to its ease of use, convenience as a payment method for various policy allowances by local governments, and relatively low administrative costs, which fully demonstrated its advantages.

Currently, ‘Chak’ is used by local governments as a means to pay over 230 types of allowances, including farmers and fishermen’s allowances, youth allowances, and moving-in household support funds.

Because only the information of allowance recipients needs to be entered into the system, payments can be made immediately, which has spread the perception on the ground that administrative costs can be drastically reduced.

In particular, during the spread of COVID-19, many local governments distributed disaster relief funds through this service, leading to the evaluation that ‘Chak’ has established itself as a representative framework for non-face-to-face finance in the field.

Currently, local governments nationwide are enhancing user convenience through ‘Chak’s additional services. More than 50 local governments, including Gunsan, Siheung, Seongnam, and Wonju, allow the use of public delivery apps via ‘Chak’, and local governments such as Asan and Suncheon also enable taxi payments.

Based on its experience operating ‘Chak’, the Minting Corporation was designated last year by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as a ‘specialized institution for the local gift certificate merchant data opening project.’

It also received a budget of 1 billion KRW from the National Information Society Agency to improve the methods of collecting and managing local gift certificate merchant information, build an efficient gift certificate data management system, and disclose this information to the public through the Public Data Portal.

Ban Jang-sik, president of the Minting Corporation, said, “We will strive to contribute to regional economic development, such as revitalizing startups, through the opening of local gift certificate merchant data encompassing the private sector.”