Onnuri Paper Vouchers to Be Reduced... Yet 60% of Agricultural Transactions Still Use 'Paper Gift Certificates'

Paper Voucher Usage in Agriculture at 59.7%... Three Times the Overall Average
Cha Gyugeun: "Digital Transition Barriers by Industry Must Be Examined"

As the Ministry of SMEs and Startups pushes ahead with the digital transition of Onnuri Gift Certificates and plans to gradually decrease the issuance of physical vouchers, it has been revealed that around 60% of transactions in the agricultural sector are still settled using paper gift certificates. There are concerns that a uniform reduction in physical certificates, without considering the specific circumstances of each industry, could lead to inconvenience for both merchants and consumers.

Cha Gyu-geun, Member of the National Innovation Party. Photo by Dongju Yoon

According to data submitted to Assemblyman Cha Gyugeun of the Party for National Innovation, a member of the National Assembly’s Trade, Industry, Energy, SMEs, and Startups Committee, by the Small Enterprise and Market Service, paper vouchers accounted for 20.0% of all Onnuri Gift Certificate transactions between January and August this year. In contrast, the proportion of paper payments for agricultural products was 59.7%, and for fisheries products it was 48.6%, both significantly higher than the overall average.

In particular, while the share of paper gift certificates in the agricultural sector fell from 93.1% in 2022 to 59.7% this year, they still accounted for more than half of the transactions. During the same period, the overall proportion of paper vouchers used in Onnuri Gift Certificate transactions plunged from 80.6% to 20.0%.

Accordingly, the gap between the share of paper transactions in the agricultural sector and across all Onnuri Gift Certificate transactions has widened more than threefold, from 12.6 percentage points in 2022 to 39.7 percentage points this year.

The transaction volume for agricultural and fishery products using Onnuri Gift Certificates reached 682.6 billion won from January to August this year. Of this amount, 56.0% was settled through paper vouchers, raising concerns that a rapid reduction in paper issuance could cause significant inconvenience for elderly consumers and small-scale merchants who are not familiar with digital payments.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has stated that it plans to expand the digital transition of Onnuri Gift Certificates and gradually reduce the issuance of paper certificates to improve payment convenience and policy efficiency.

Assemblyman Cha said, "Merchants and consumers should not be marginalized by a one-sided reduction in paper vouchers that ignores on-the-ground realities," adding, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and Small Enterprise and Market Service must thoroughly assess the actual usage and digital transition barriers by industry." He also emphasized, "Tailored support measures, such as one-on-one digital payment education for elderly merchants and the expansion of convenient payment infrastructure, must first be established."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.