THE VALUE of coins collected by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) through its coin deposit machines (CoDMs) reached P212.94 million as of Nov. 15, it said on its website.
This was 82% higher than the P114.9 million worth of coins recorded a month prior, data showed.
Filipinos have deposited 71.62 million pieces of coins via the CoDMs just five months after it was launched in retail establishments in the country, the central bank said.
Transactions made on the machines reached 69,957 as of Nov. 15.
The central bank deployed the deposit machines to encourage the public to deposit their coins for recirculation.
“Through the CoDM project, the BSP aims to address the artificial coin shortage in certain areas of the country and help ensure that only fit and legal tender currency is readily available for public use,” it said.
The BSP has rolled out 25 coin deposit machines in partner retail establishments across Metro Manila and other nearby provinces.
A year after the project’s launch, the central bank is looking to determine if the project will be expanded to other regions and if the number of machines will be increased.
Coins deposited in CoDMs may either be credited to an individual’s e-wallet account or converted into shopping vouchers for over-the-counter transactions.
All denominations of the BSP Coin Series and New Generation Currency Coins Series are accepted by the CoDMs. Mutilated and unfit coins, as well as demonetized coins, foreign currency, and foreign objects like to-kens are rejected by the machines and returned to depositors. — K.B. Ta-asan
