Recently, the Business Mirror published a news article revealing that more than P170 million worth of coins have been deposited in the many coin deposit machines (CODMs) of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) nationwide as of October 30, 2023. Based on recent findings, more people and business representatives have been lining up at their local CODM to deposit their excess coins and turn it into added value into their GCash accounts or PayMaya accounts, or use the value for shopping vouchers (accepted by The SM Store). Previously the figure was revealed at P115 million and this major project by the BSP launched this past June.
To put things in perspective, posted below is an excerpt from the Business Mirror news article. Some parts in boldface…
THE coin deposit machines (CoDMs) have collected an average of a million pesos per day since June, according to the latest data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), which rolled out the program four months ago to ease the coin shortage and cut government losses in minting coins.
As of October 30, the CoDM collections have reached P171.09 million since June 20. This means an average of P1.29 million worth of coins every day for a period of 133 days.
As of October 20, only 10 days prior, collections already reached P146.78 million. This means, in just 10 days, some P25.31 million or an addition of P2.53 million worth of coins were collected per day.
The data obtained by BusinessMirror also showed that a total of 59.8 million coins were deposited in CoDMs as of October 30.
This means an average of 449,607 coins were deposited into the 25 CoDMs located in various malls and groceries in Metro Manila. This translates to about 17,984 coins per machine everyday.
These coins include the P20, P10, P5, P1, 25 centavo, 10 centavo, 5 centavo, and 1 centavo. These are converted into e-wallets and shopping vouchers.
Based on the data, more than half of the coins deposited in CoDMs are P1 and 25 centavo coins. A total of 22.96 million P1 coins were deposited between June 20 and October 30 while 13.79 million 25 centavo coins were received by the machines during the period.
This was followed by the P5 coin with 12.89 million pieces; P10 coin, 3.02 million pieces; 5 centavo coin, 2.73 million pieces; P20 coin, 2.49 million pieces; and P10 centavo coin, 1.88 million pieces. The lowest was the 1 centavo coin with only 47,496 pieces.
In the data as of October 20, the largest sum ever deposited in a single transaction was P105,818. This was deposited on September 30 in an SM-owned location.
The highest volume of coins deposited during the period reached 33,794 pieces which was received in a CoDM in another SM-owned property last September 3.
The data as of October 20, also showed almost all or 97.63 percent of the amount of the coins collected by CoDMs were converted into GCash credits. The total amount converted into GCash reached P142.33 million as of October 20.
In terms of coin volume, GCash also converted the most into credits with 51.13 million coins or 97.63 percent of the total. This covered a total of 50,225 transactions or 97.04 percent of all CoDM transactions.
In June, BSP rolled out the CoDMs to alleviate the coin shortage in the country and cut the government’s losses in minting coins.
Former BSP Governor Felipe M. Medalla said the Philippines currently has a problem with coins, given that its coins per capita have more than doubled in less than a decade.
There are 39 billion pieces of coins in circulation in the country. At 110 million Filipinos, this translates to around 355 coins per capita which is a 195 percent growth from the 120 coins per capita eight years ago.
Let me end this piece by asking you readers: What do you think about this recent development? Were you able to deposit your excess coins into a BSP cash deposit machine in your city? Was there a time when you had to wait long in the line at a BSP cash deposit machine because one of the customers ahead of you brought several jars full of coins with them for deposit? Do you think having one BSP CODM per shopping mall is sufficient to meet local customers’ need for coin depositing? When waiting for your turn at the BSP CODM takes too long, do you take your coins with you to the bank to deposit into your personal account?
You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.
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Author Carlo Carrasco 