The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said Friday, Aug. 4, that its recently launched Coin Deposit Machines (CoDMs) have already accepted over P18.8 million of coin deposits.
This translates to more than 10,900 transactions as of July 31, 2023, just a month after the CoDMs were officially deployed last June 20 in major supermarkets and malls.
The BSP said coins deposited into the machines were mostly credited to customers’ e-wallets, while a portion was exchanged for shopping vouchers.
“With the continued increase in deployments in key retail establishments, the BSP expects that more Filipinos will get to enjoy the benefits offered by the CoDMs,” it said.
In using the CoDMs, customers can conveniently deposit legal tender coins and have the equivalent amount credited to their GCash accounts. The BSP is also working to onboard Maya, providing more e-wallet options to the public, it said.
Meanwhile the BSP also advises customers to make sure that their e-wallet accounts are valid, active, and within the prescribed transaction limits.
However the BSP reminds customers not to tape or bundle the coins before using the coin machines. “(Coins) must not come with other objects like buttons, magnets, nails, tokens, screws, or washers; and are gently placed in the coin slot in handfuls,” said the BSP.
The CoDMs are part of BSP’s ongoing coin recirculation project.
The BSP initially deployed 10 CoDMs: two in SM Mall of Asia; one in Robinsons Ermita; and one in Festival Supermall in Muntinlupa. Six other CoDMs were distributed last month.
The 10 pilot CoDMs are part of 25 to be released in Metro Manila this year.
The BSP said by June 2024, it will assess if the project will be expanded to other regions or if they need to add more machines.
The BSP has been calling for a strong law that will penalize coin hoarding in the country. In the absence of a law, the BSP utilizes its Coin Recirculation Program to encourage the public to refrain from unnecessarily accumulating coins.
Coin hoarding results in the inefficient circulation of coins and prevents their primary use as medium of exchange.
An artificial shortage of coins may also occur because of the common practice of keeping coins idle in bank vaults, drawers and piggy banks instead of re-circulating them.