On the first day of the livelihood recovery consumer coupon application on the 21st, many applicants attempted to access various credit card companies' apps and websites simultaneously, causing connection issues.
Service delays were reported on the mobile applications of major credit card companies such as Shinhan Card, KB Kookmin Card, Hana Card, and Hyundai Card. The consumer coupon application period is scheduled to run for about eight weeks until 6 PM on September 12.
Around 10:55 AM, accessing Shinhan Card's mobile app 'SOL Pay' resulted in a popup message stating 'connection closed.'
Similarly, when clicking the 'Consumer Coupon Application' button on the Shinhan Card website, a message saying 'unable to connect to the site' appeared along with a blank screen. Overwhelming server load due to a rush of applicants on the first day is identified as the main cause of the issue.
A Shinhan Card official explained, "We have identified that depending on the access environment, some places can connect without issues while others cannot. We are preparing additional measures while monitoring the situation of connection disparities."
Response from Credit Card Companies and the Government's Distributed Application Plan
Although credit card companies prepared in advance by expanding servers, building call centers, and developing a point-of-sale system before issuing consumer coupons, it seems that temporary system failures occurred due to a number of simultaneous users exceeding expectations.
Similar connection delays were found on KB Kookmin Card's 'KB Pay' and Hana Card's consumer coupon application page, and some users also reported experiencing issues with the Hyundai Card app.
The government anticipated such situations and implemented a plan to distribute application days based on the last digit of birth years.
On the 21st, citizens with birth years ending in 1 and 6 were eligible to apply. Subsequently, on Tuesdays (2 and 7), Wednesdays (3 and 8), Thursdays (4 and 9), and Fridays (5 and 0), citizens with those respective last digits could apply.
On the weekend of the 26th and 27th, all citizens can apply online, regardless of their birth year.
The consumer coupon provides support of 150,000 won per person, and recipients can choose to receive it via credit card, debit card, prepaid card, or regional love gift certificates.
If choosing the credit or debit card method, applications can be made through the apps and websites of nine credit card companies, including KB Kookmin, NH Nonghyup, Lotte, Samsung, Shinhan, Woori, Hana, Hyundai, and BC, as well as at bank counters associated with the credit card companies.
Image source: Insight, News1
