A comprehensive account of the birth and growth of local currency... spotlighting the significance of a policy experiment linking citizens, government and the local economy

【Financial News | Incheon = Reporter Han Gap-su】 A book bringing together the challenges and achievements behind the growth of Incheon e-Eum, an electronic currency in Incheon, into a civic platform with 2.8 million users has been published.
Published on the 13th, ‘THE 2,800,000 People—Incheon e-Eum, the Success Story of the World’s First Electronic Local Currency,’ written by Byun Ju-young, head of the Incheon Global Campus Operating Foundation, covers Incheon e-Eum’s origins and growth, its operational achievements and directions for sustainable development.
The book offers a detailed account of the challenges encountered in the field of public administration as the author conceived and implemented the policy, as well as the importance of public-private cooperation and civic participation.
The book identifies Incheon e-Eum’s key achievement not simply in the number of subscribers or transaction volume, but in an administrative policy taking root in citizens’ daily lives and becoming a sustainable institution. The author stresses that just as important as creating a policy is earning citizens’ trust so it can continue even when national administrations, local government leadership or the responsible organization change.
Incheon e-Eum originated in concerns about spending in Incheon flowing out of the region. According to a 2014 analysis by the Bank of Korea’s Incheon office, 52.8% of card spending by Incheon residents took place outside the region. The author conceived of an electronic local currency as a way to redirect spending so that money earned locally would generate sales for local businesses and small-business owners.
To overcome the high issuance and management costs, inconvenience for users and limitations on collecting spending data associated with conventional paper-based local currencies, a platform combining a mobile app and IC cards was developed. The initiative, launched in 2018 as the predecessor ‘Incheoner Card,’ expanded across Incheon via ‘Seoro e-Eum’ in Seo District, Incheon. The system encourages citizens to spend locally through cashback and gives small-business owners an opportunity to increase sales.
The book attributes the initiative’s success not only to policy design but also to persuasion and coordination within the administration, public-private cooperation and civic participation. It describes how the involvement of diverse groups, including local managers, local mothers’ online communities and merchants’ associations, broadened the platform’s user base. It also traces how the addition of services such as delivery, shopping and donations developed it beyond a simple payment method into a platform for everyday life.
On economic impact, the book discusses achievements including an analysis it presents estimating the effect at 356.6 billion won, an increase in cumulative transaction volume and an expansion in the number of participating merchants. It also recounts how, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a ‘School Meal Package Mall’ linked local businesses supplying school meal ingredients with students’ households, seeking both to support the local economy and ease the burden on families.
In its later chapters, the book proposes expanding Incheon e-Eum from a payment-focused platform into a data-driven urban management platform. The vision is to develop it into public infrastructure linking the local economy and public administration through tailored policies using citizens’ spending and participation data, AI-based policy analysis, connections to welfare services, and integrated transportation, reservations and shopping.
As the next task for Incheon e-Eum, the author proposes building a sustainable operating system and a structure for civic participation, rather than simply adding more functions. The book offers local governments promoting local currencies, policy practitioners and researchers considering ways to revitalize local economies a case study spanning policy planning, implementation and expansion.
[email protected] Han Gap-su Reporter