News

Will South Korea kick coins to the curb?

April 27, 2017

The Bank of Korea announced in 2016 that it had a plan to eliminate coin use in the country by 2020.

Last Thursday, the bank embarked on a pilot test of a program that allows Koreans to have small change from a cash transaction credited to a prepaid card instead of receiving coins, a report by China's Xinhua news service said.

If the trial succeeds, the bank plans to expand the program early next year and allow consumers to have change deposited directly into their bank account.

A survey by BOK found that half of all Koreans support the idea of eliminating coins; only one-third said they still carried pocket change.

The Bank of Korea stands to save money on coinage if the program succeeds; a 10 won coin costs more to produce than it's actually worth, the report said.