City officials recently requested the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) for the possibility of installing coin deposit machines in the city, particularly at SM City Baguio, City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) or at the city hall premises.
Under Resolution No. 292, series of 2024, local legislators stated that the provision of coin deposit machines in the City Social Welfare and Development Office and the City Hall premises will create a fundraising opportunity for the city offices to receive coin donations that may be deposited for social welfare purposes among other related services.
Earlier, the BSP launched a coin recirculation program on June 20, 2023 entitled ‘The BSP Coin Machine Project: Bawat Barya ay Mahalaga’ purposely to entice the public to bring out the coins being hidden in their houses and piggy banks for possible re-circulation to address the reported shortage of coins circulating in the country.
The council noted that as of April 15, 2024 or ten months after the said project was launched, the coin recirculation program of the BSP has already accepted a total of 179.6 million coins equivalent to PhP648.9 million which was received and processed through its program utilizing the coin deposit machines established in strategic areas around the country.
Since the re-circulation project’s launching, the BSP installed 25-coin deposit machines around the Greater Manila Area (GMA) in cooperation with partner retailers such as SM Supermalls, Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI), and electronic money issuers such as GCash or Maya electronic wallet accounts.
Further, the BSP’s coin recirculation program through the coin deposit machines allows customers to conveniently deposit their idle legal tender coins to be credited to their GCash or Maya electronic wallet accounts otherwise may be converted to shopping vouchers as well.
The body stipulated that through the BSP coin deposit machines, idle coins re-circulated back to the economy will not only serve the currency needs of the country, address the official coin storage by helping ensure that only fit and legal tender currency is readily available for public use but also in order to promote a cash-lite economy with the adoption of digitalized payments.
Moreover, the presence of coin deposit machines in and around the city will definitely help promote the BSP’s coin recirculation project and will efficiently and effectively cater to coin intensive occupation such as public utility drivers and owners, market vendors, sari-sari store owners and even children who rigorously save for their personal needs among others.
Copies of the approved resolution will be transmitted to the BSP for information, guidance, ready reference and further needed action. By Dexter A. See
