News in Brief

Korea Grapples with Excess Coins

The Bank of Korea (BOK) is grappling with a surplus of coins piling up in its vaults, a consequence of the country’s move towards cashless payments.

According to local reports, loose change is now rarely used, and its return to the Bank is becoming a growing logistical burden.

To cope with the growing volume of coin deposits, many bank branches now only accept coins during designated hours. Customers deposit the coins in exchange for banknotes or the equivalent amount credited to their accounts.

The packaged coins are then stored in branch vaults until they are transported to the BOK. Branches in Seoul send collected cash to the BOK headquarters, while branches elsewhere ship them to their respective regional BOK offices.