Starting next year, loose changes after shopping at grocery and convenience stores in Korea can be remitted directly to bank accounts.

The Bank of Korea said on Thursday that it is receiving applications from retailers wishing to participate in a pilot project in the first half of next year that give consumers the choice of receiving changes in their bank accounts instead of in hard cash.

The service is led by the central bank in its goal to make a coinless society.

The BOK has already introduced a service in which consumers can deposit their changes from convenience stores and discount stores to electronic prepayment cards such as transportation cards.

Six discount stores and convenience stores including 7-Eleven, E-Mart, and CU are taking part in the service as well as 10 issuers of electronic prepayment service including T-money, L-point, and Naver Pay. The service is available in 36,850 retail stores across the country.

In the first quarter of this year, the number of service use cases reached 26,226 on a daily average worth 4.96 million won ($4,276).

The BOK expected that the upcoming new service will not only help save costs on issuing and retailing coins but also provide more convenience to consumers as they will no longer need to carry coins from change.

By Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]