They Say 'Normal Operation'... Yet Digital Onnuri Still Uncomfortable

Service Announced as Back to Normal After Outage
Payment and Merchant Search Errors Still Persist

On the 4th, when visiting a convenience store in the underground shopping center in Jung-gu, Seoul, where 'Digital Onnuri' was said to be operating normally, Onnuri payment errors persisted. The store owner, Mr. Lee, said, "Just today, several customers have already turned away because Onnuri payments did not work." Also, when pressing the merchant search button on the Onnuri app, only one merchant appeared on the underground shopping mall map. Various merchants such as cafes, bakeries, and restaurants actually located in this underground shopping mall could not be found.

Although the Digital Onnuri integrated app has completed service error recovery and is operating normally, user complaints continue unabated. Issues such as payment errors and missing merchants within the shopping mall remain a source of inconvenience for both users and merchants.

According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service (SEMAS), the Digital Onnuri Gift Certificate integrated app 'Digital Onnuri,' launched on the 1st, experienced connection failures from the first day, drawing users' complaints. Due to a surge in users, the app was unresponsive, but service recovery was completed around 10 a.m. on the 2nd, and it has been operating normally since.

However, users still feel inconvenienced by card and QR payment errors. Ms. Lee, a woman in her 40s living in Mapo-gu, Seoul, said, "Today at lunch, the Onnuri card payment did not work at a gimbap restaurant that was a regular merchant." Mr. Kim, residing in Dalseo-gu, Daegu, said, "Neither card nor mobile payments work. I have charged over 1 million won and want a refund."

Merchants are also experiencing confusion with payments. Mr. Park, who runs a rice cake shop in a traditional market in Jongno-gu, Seoul, said, "Onnuri payment records are not being registered. Every time a payment is made, I have to confirm the payment details with the customer." Ms. Lee, a woman in her 60s running a fruit and vegetable store, said, "Since the payment records are not visible, I don't feel secure. I run my business trusting that customers will maintain their trust." In online communities where small business owners gather, reviews such as "Since the Digital Onnuri revamp, system errors occur when customers make payments" are frequently posted.

App Store user reviews related to missing franchises and difficulty in searching. Screenshot

Additionally, complaints have been raised about the difficulty of finding merchants in the integrated app. In online communities with many Onnuri gift certificate users, comments continue with reviews like "Even local favorite stores don't work. Many stores are not visible after the app changed."

Errors also occur where only one merchant is displayed on the map despite multiple merchants existing in a shopping mall or building. In fact, in places where merchants gather, such as the underground shopping center in Jung-gu, Seoul, and shopping malls in Mapo-gu, only one merchant appears on the map. Reviews on the Google App Store mention limitations on map zooming, making it difficult to check merchants in other areas, or that category classifications such as business type and payment method within the map do not function smoothly.

Regarding this, a SEMAS official said, "For card-type payments, existing merchant data has been imported. However, for mobile-type payments, since the system changed from Zero Pay to the Onnuri integrated app, merchants must apply separately." They added, "We are continuously notifying merchants via text messages." They also stated, "Since the launch of the integrated app, no system failures related to payment and settlement have occurred, and no related complaints have been received at the customer center."