Seoul Metropolitan Government announced KRW265 billion in local gift-certificate issuance for the Chuseok shopping period, including its first allocation reserved for older buyers. The September 11 plan covered phased sales from September 14 to 18 through SeoulPay+. [S01]
The total comprised KRW80 billion in citywide vouchers and KRW185 billion in district vouchers. The city set aside KRW8 billion for the senior purchasing pilot, giving people born in 1961 or earlier a separate September 14 to 17 window before general citywide sales on September 18.
Planned Seoul voucher issuance by programme
Announced face value for the September sales schedule.
KRW billion
Tap or hover for details. All values are also available in the data table.
Source
Planned face value, not subsidy expense, purchases or redemptions. The KRW8 billion senior reservation is within the citywide KRW80 billion, so it must not be added as a third allocation.
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| Category | Published values |
|---|---|
| Citywide vouchers | 80 KRW billion |
| District vouchers | 185 KRW billion |
The reserved allocation addresses a distribution problem: older residents can be disadvantaged when a limited supply is sold through fast smartphone transactions. Seoul had proposed the access policy in May; September's announcement specified the first implementation and funding allocation. [S02]
The senior vouchers must be spent by the purchaser and cannot be sent to another user through the gifting function. The city said it would examine purchasing and payment activity before expanding reserved issuance to district programs.
Both citywide and district vouchers carried a 5% purchase discount. The announcement also described a 2% payment rebate for citywide vouchers and additional rebates in selected districts, subject to the relevant program budgets. These are separate purchase and redemption incentives, not reported sales growth.
Seoul also described Npay Money as a purchase option alongside bank transfers and cards, and connections to Naver and Toss payment terminals for SeoulPay QR acceptance. The new issuance operates within that existing local merchant payment network.
The source sets out planned issuance and eligibility. It does not establish that the entire KRW265 billion allocation was sold or quantify the pilot's results.
In this article
Suzie Elis
Suzie Elis covers gift card products, digital gifting and distribution for Gift Card News.