The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has tapped e-wallet issuer GCash as partner in its coin recirculation program designed to encourage Filipinos to move their loose change or “barya” out of the house and into general circulation.
It said it is also onboarding GCash rival Maya to the program to capture some P50 billion worth of coins that typically do not circulate at all and are instead kept as token savings in countless homes across the country.
Idle coins mean added cost to the task of ensuring the free circulation of money in the financial system given that the cost of producing those coins is typically more than its face value.
This is why the BSP and its partner retailers launched the coin deposit machines (CoDM) program today, 20 June 2023, promoting efficient coin recirculation in the country.
Through the CoDM project, the BSP encourages the public to deposit their idle coins stored in their jars, piggy banks, and other containers in accessible, convenient, and efficient coin exchange facilities in participating malls.
The BSP collaborated with SM Retail, Inc., Robinsons Supermarket Corporation, and Filinvest Lifemalls Corporation, CoDMs went live in SM Mall of Asia (MOA) in Pasay, Robinsons Place Ermita in Manila, and Festival Supermall in Muntinlupa.
Six more machines will be deployed in select locations across the Greater Manila Area in the next few days.
CoDMs allow customers to conveniently deposit legal tender coins and directly credit the equivalent amount to their GCash electronic wallets. The BSP is likewise working with electronic money issuer Maya to onboard them to the project and provide more options to the public. This is in line with the central bank’s payment digitalization and financial inclusion agenda.
Alternatively, customers of SM MOA and Festival Mall may choose to redeem the value of their deposited coins in the form of SM shopping vouchers.
CoDMs accept all denominations (i.e., 1-, 5-, 10-, and 25-Sentimo; and 1-, 5-, 10-,and 20-Piso) of the BSP Coin Series and the New Generation Currency Coin Series.
