Daejeon City’s local currency 'OnTong Daejeon 2.0' officially launches... "Expected to revitalize neighborhood businesses"

[Financial News, Daejeon = Reporter Kim Won-joon] Daejeon’s local currency, OnTong Daejeon, is relaunching as an upgraded version, 'OnTong Daejeon 2.0.'
Daejeon Metropolitan City said on the 1st that it had begun full-scale operations by holding a field shopping event with residents at Jungang Market, the city’s leading traditional market, to mark the launch of OnTong Daejeon 2.0.
The event started at Gate 5 of Jungang Market and covered a roughly 250-meter stretch through Daejeon Wholesale Market, Yankee Market, Jayu Wholesale Market and Jeongwon Market. Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jeong and Daejeon Metropolitan Council Chair Jo Seong-chil toured the market, shopped with OnTong Daejeon, and listened to merchants struggling with rising prices and the economic slowdown.
The revamped OnTong Daejeon 2.0 goes beyond the existing payment function and is designed to greatly improve convenience for residents. Along with a redesigned cashback program, it expands services through broader QR code payments and links to policy support, so that everyday consumer spending can translate into real sales for local businesses. Daejeon City said the plan is intended to curb the outflow of funds from the region and strengthen neighborhood commercial districts.
Local government local currency programs are seen as a key policy tool for boosting domestic demand, which has been weakened by high inflation and high interest rates, and for strengthening the sales base of small business owners. In particular, they help keep money circulating within the region instead of flowing to large retail chains or out-of-area discretionary spending, contributing to a virtuous cycle in which small merchants see higher operating profits and reinvestment within the local economy. However, easing the fiscal burden and diversifying platforms are cited as major challenges for ensuring policy sustainability.
Heo Tae-jeong said, "OnTong Daejeon is a core virtuous-cycle platform for Daejeon’s economy that connects residents’ spending to sales at local businesses." He added, "Through OnTong Daejeon 2.0, which offers greater convenience and more benefits for residents and more sales opportunities for small business owners, we will inject new vitality into the local economy."

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