BSP wins award for coin deposit machine project

BSP's Coin Deposit Machine (bsp.gov.ph)

THE BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said on Wednesday it has received an award from the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) for its Coin Deposit Machine (CoDM) project.

In a statement, the BSP said the 2024 Excellence in Currency Technical Award was received by BSP Deputy Director Jann Ryan Jose during the during the Currency Research 2024 Banknote Conference in Texas, USA on May 15.

The IACA is a non-profit independent member organization that promotes and encourages excellence in the cash cycle and provides a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration for its members on matters of strategic importance.

The BSP said the IACA cited the CoDM project as a “best new cash cycle innovation which improves efficiency, effectiveness, safety, environmental protection, resiliency, and security of the distribution and circulation of cash for improved access, acceptance, and authentication.”

The BSP launched the CoDM project on June 20, 2023 to address the artificial coin shortage in certain areas of the country and to help ensure that only fit and legal tender currency are readily available for public use.

CoDMs allow customers to conveniently deposit their legal tender coins to be credited to their GCash or Maya electronic wallet accounts, or converted into shopping vouchers.

The coin deposit machines support the BSP’s Coin Recirculation Program that aims to put idle coins back in circulation to serve the currency needs of the country.

To date, the BSP deployed 25 CoDMs in partner retail establishments across the Greater Manila Area.

The BSP said as of May 15 this year, more than 194 million pieces of coins worth more than PHP707 million have been deposited into the machines from over 174,000 transactions. (Anna Leah Gonzales)