OBSERVATION: As Hong Kong moves ever closer to becoming a cashless society, is there truly a need for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority to keep producing the smallest denomination 10, 20, and 50 cent coins relative to the cost and environmental impact of actually minting new coins?
SOLUTION: Provide coin conversion machines at MTR stations that collect and recycle coins, provide instant credit on Octopus cards or digital payment platforms, and minimize new coin production.
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has operated two rarely-seen roving coin collection vehicles since 2014 that converts unused coins into cash or stored value card credits to reduce the demand for minting new coins. However, how many busy Hong Kong residents have actually ever seen these vehicles or availed themselves of their services?
When these “coinmobiles” do appear in one’s neighborhood, the process is relatively quick and efficient. There is a maximum weight of coins that can be cashed in during a visit, which need to be free of foreign matter. After transferring your haul into a plastic tray, one then steps up into the vehicle where an attendant dumps the coins into a spinning rotary sorter — any stray Macau Patacas are spit out in the rejection slot, and a voucher is printed out which can be redeemed at a small cubicle in the rear of the vehicle. Sadly, these vehicles are not wheelchair accessible.
As an alternative to the elusive HKMA coin collection vehicles, banks present another option for cashing in coins. However, some greedy banks often charge a bogus “handling fee” for cashing large amounts of coins into banknotes.
Could the coin recycling process be dramatically accelerated, and become more convenient and accessible for Hong Kong’s busy populace by installing automatic coin recycling machines at all MTR stations which could automatically credit one’s Octopus card immediately after collection? And could this include an option to automatically top-up an individual’s digital payment account, like AliPay and others from such MTR-based kiosks?
If provided, the HKMA’s recycling targets might be met in a fraction of the time, the environmental impacts of minting new coins minimized, and space-starved residents could rid their junk drawers of nonsensical coins on a daily basis as they commute to work on one of the most well-used public transport systems in the city.