DAEJEON — Daejeon's local currency program, "Ontong Daejeon 2.0," will resume operations in September.
Mayor Huh Tae-jung announced at a press conference on the 27th that the city will run Ontong Daejeon 2.0 starting September 1. The program will provide a base cashback rate of 10% on spending of up to 300,000 won per month. The city plans to raise the rate during periods when consumer spending needs a boost and for groups that require more support.
In September, which includes the Chuseok holiday, the rate will be 15%. From October through November, a 13% rate will apply to vulnerable groups and to users of traditional markets, designated shopping streets and youth-run startup merchants. Additional cashback will also be paid in December, and stores designated as "fair-price businesses" will receive a standing 15% rate through December.
Government support payments, which are currently distributed through a variety of separate channels, will also become available through Ontong Daejeon. This year, support payments from 21 programs will be disbursed through Ontong Daejeon, allowing recipients to check their payment records in the app. The program will offer mileage for walking and for the use of public transportation and public facilities, and points from major credit card companies will be convertible into Ontong Daejeon credit.
The city will also expand digital management support for small business owners. It will provide commercial district analysis services based on Ontong Daejeon payment data to support data-driven management, pilot a QR code-based simple payment system, and link the program with the Ontong Daejeon Mall and a delivery app to ease operating burdens and help merchants expand sales channels.
From next year, the city will broaden the integrated disbursement of government support payments and improve the app so that users can more easily check, apply for and receive benefits. It will introduce a mobile citizen card, fully expand QR code payments, and strengthen support for small business owners through services such as "My Store Analysis" and assistance with business-to-business (B2B) transactions.
The city's vision is to develop Ontong Daejeon into an "AI citizen life economy platform" connecting residents, policy and the local economy, so that citizens can access the benefits they need through a single app. By 2028, the city will build an open, expandable platform to complement the existing Ontong Daejeon app, which is centered on local currency payments. The plan is to develop it into an integrated platform that uses artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies to flexibly connect a wider range of policies and daily-life services.
"Ontong Daejeon served fully as a vaccine for people's livelihoods during the COVID-19 period, and I hope it will now serve as a primer that injects vitality into the local economy," Huh said.
