‘ZERO PAY’ SYSTEM

[Anchor Lead]

"Zero Pay" system endorsed by the city of Seoul and other regional governments is now adopted in convenience stores nationwide. But small business owners are still skeptical of "Zero Pay" and the Seoul government is criticized for wasting its money. Here are the details

[Pkg]

When a device reads the bar code on a mobile phone, the transaction is completed. This simple payment system has been adopted in some 43,000 convenience stores nationwide. It has become much easier to use, since scanning a bar code on a mobile phone is all that is required for payment. But the system still hasn't been stabilized and isn't promoted enough, which has led to some confusion at Zero Pay partner stores.

[Soundbite] (CONVENIENCE STORE EMPLOYEE(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "(Do you accept Zero Pay?) It worked once, but didn't other times. No one has used it. Four City Hall employees came but they didn't buy anything since it didn't work."

In mom-and-pop businesses other than convenience stores, consumers have to follow the old payment method of entering payment amounts and passwords themselves. That's because small business owners cannot afford the costs and fees required by the new payment system.

[Soundbite] (SMALL BUSINESS OWNER(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "Zero Pay's aim is good, but nobody actually uses it. It would be simpler if there was a quicker way."

It's been five months since the Zero Pay system went into pilot-testing. The number of partner stores increased to 250,000, but only a daily average of 80 million won are used. That translates to a mere 300 won in payment amount per partner store. The city government of Seoul is doing all it can to promote the supposedly simpler payment system, such as giving consumers discounts when they use Zero Pay at around 400 Hangang River parks and other public facilities. But criticism mounts as consumers rarely use Zero Pay in stores and the Seoul city government is projected to lose more than 8 billion won in annual revenue by giving discounts.