CU to make instant VAT refund for foreign customers

BGF Retail, a franchiser that operates convenience store chain CU, said on Tuesday that it would implement an instant VAT refund service for foreign tourists in line with the expected global reopening trend led by the Chinese and others next year.

CU, in collaboration with NICE Information & Telecommunication Inc. and Lord System, developed a system that allows VAT refunds through a sales information system (POS) without a separate terminal.

When a foreign tourist purchases goods at a CU store and scans her passport with a POS scanner, she can pay the price with the value-added tax deducted. The amount eligible for a refund ranges from 30,000 won ($23.5) to 500,000 won ($392.7).

CU plans to implement the service at 50 stores in areas with high demand for VAT refunds, and expand it to more than 1,000 stores nationwide by the end of next year.

According to the Seoul Tourism Organization, the number of foreigners who visited the Seoul Tourist Information Center between January and November of this year was 492,727, an eight-fold increase from the same period last year.

CU said that it is preparing various marketing events as it expects that many more foreign tourists will visit the convenience store next year than this year thanks to the popularity of K-content and K-food.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com