WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA FOREIGN CHANGE…

Do you often wonder how to finish all those coins and small notes you have when you are in a foreign country, knowing that if we were to bring them home, we are pretty unlikely to get to change these money at the money changer.. Sometimes, I would try to get some sweets, candies, snacks at the airport to finish it off, and at other times give it away as tips to my driver -if I have a driver like in Bali, Siem Reap or so…..

Passengers now traveling through Singapore’s Changi Airport can now convert their unneeded foreign change, with the new TravelersBox kiosks located at the airport.

These TravelersBox is an innovative fintech company that helps travelers like you and me convert leftover foreign currency, including bills and coins, into digital money with favorite e-wallet brands (PayPal and Baidu) or e-Gift cards (iTunes, JD.com, Grab, Tokpedia, Starbucks, Facebook).

On the other hand, you can also choose to make a contribution to the Changi Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Changi Airport Group (CAG) that supports youth community efforts, or charities such as the Red Cross. Great idea right….

This way, the money that would otherwise be kept in a jar of mixed coins and bills once you come home from your trip can be of value again.

The TravelersBox in Changi Airport is sure useful service to the over 58 million passengers that passes through each year. Since the TravelersBox kiosks were first installed in Changi Airport in mid-December 2016, there have been four times more transactions in Singapore than in the next best performing airport.

You can find these TravelersBox kiosks in Singapore, Japan and Manila as well. I know I am gonna be on a lookout for this at Kansai Airport… hopefully they have some there..

Tomer Zussman, CEO of TravelersBox says that they are looking forward to expanding their presence in Asia and working with popular brands in each market to offer travelers more options to convert their leftover foreign change.

TravelersBox was conceptualized when Tomer found himself with his pockets full of change each time he returned from his regular work-trips to New York. He would often forget to bring the coins on his next trip and when he started to count the coins, he realized that he would usually accumulate an average of US$10 1 E-wallet, e-gift card and charity partners may differ between different countries.

On doing further market study, he found that on average, a tourist actually carries US$20 worth of loose change. With 1.5 billion travelers a year, he realized that this was an untapped market of potentially US$30 billion a year.

After trying to work with banks and credit card companies who were uninterested in micropayments, Tomer thought he could partner with e-wallets and e-Gift card merchants.