Credit card issurers will start receiving registrations of relief subsidies on Monday under governmental guidelines that could expand payment transaction volume by 10 trillion won ($8.2 billion).

The news comes along with the central government’s move to distribute 14.3 trillion won among Korean citizens to help them fight the fallout from the coronavirus. Of the total, around 10 trillion won is expected to be spent via credit cards, according to market observers.

Taking subsidies via credit cards appear to be a boon for issuers. But they are advised by authorities to restrain from attracting subsidy recipients with marketing efforts.

The subsidies will come either in the form of prepaid debit cards, cash-equivalent electronic vouchers or redeemable reward points for a credit card the recipient already holds.

Registrations for reward points will be accepted on websites of nine Korean credit card companies, including KB Kookmin Card, Samsung Card, Shinhan Card and Hyundai Card, starting from 7 a.m. Monday. Those receiving debit cards or e-vouchers will be able to apply starting May 18.

The final digit of each head of a household‘s year of birth will decide when he or she can place the order for their families, like in the nation‘s mask rationing system.

Each household will be subsidized differently depending on the size of the family. A single-person household will receive 400,000 won, while a family of four or more will receive 1 million won.

This comes about a week after a marginalized 2.8 million households were given a total of approximately 1.3 trillion won in cash through their bank accounts.

The subsidy is part of the government’s relief packages through supplementary budgets totaling 19.3 trillion won this year.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)