South Korean mobile payment platforms and credit card companies are showing mixed responses as the country began receiving applications for the People‘s Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupons on Monday.

According to sources from the financial sector, mobile payment companies are actively marketing the program.

They are promoting it through push notifications on their mobile apps, creating in-app banners, and offering additional benefits for coupon application and usage through various promotional events.

Kakao Pay Corp., for instance, is offering extra benefits to customers who apply for the consumption coupons in the form of Kakao Pay Money and use it for offline payments.

In addition to the standard points offered, users can enter an event after applying for the coupons, where 100 winners will be selected to receive up to 2 million won ($1,446) worth of Kakao Pay points.

Similarly, Naver Pay, which is operated by Naver Corp., provides standard point rewards based on the payment method when users apply for the coupons through its platform.

Naver also plans to add a feature to Naver Map that guides users to locations by region where the coupons can be used, in cooperation with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

In contrast, credit card companies are taking a low-key approach.

These diverging strategies between mobile payment platforms and credit card companies are largely due to differences in transaction fees.

Mobile payment companies typically charge higher transaction fees than credit card firms.

Kakao Pay’s card payment fee ranges from 0.56 percent to 1.94 percent, for example.

In comparison, credit card companies charge lower fees of 0.4 percent to 1.45 percent at affiliated stores with annual sales of 3 billion won or less, which are the main targets for coupon usage.

The credit card industry views these low fees as barely profitable.

Another key point is that mobile payment platforms are seeking to expand into the offline payment market.

“As mobile payment companies are aiming to grow in the offline market, the consumption coupon program provides an opportunity to offer users an offline payment experience,” a financial industry official said. “It could also lead to attracting new customers, which is why they are more proactive.”

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