[Report] They Say They Deposit Spare Change into Bank Accounts... "Who Uses Cash These Days?"

'Change Directly Deposited to My Account' Service One Week After Launch
Trying It Out Directly at Convenience Stores...

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] "You want me to deposit the change into my bank account? I've never done that before... I didn't even know such a service existed."

On the 9th of this month, about a week after the 'Deposit Change Directly into My Account' service was launched, a reporter visiting a Ministop convenience store located in Yeouido, Seoul, bought a bottle of water and paid with 10,000 won in cash. When the reporter asked to have the change deposited into their bank account, the convenience store employee showed a puzzled expression and said, "I don't know how to do that."

When the reporter, who was familiar with the procedure, said, "I'll insert my cash card into the terminal, so please deposit the change," the employee looked confused but then complied with the request. Shortly after, a receipt titled 'Change Cash IC Account Deposit' was printed, confirming that the change had been deposited using a Woori Bank-issued card. The employee admitted, "I didn't even know such a service existed," and confessed, "This is the first time I've served a customer asking to deposit change into their account."

Service Implemented Nationwide at Ministop Convenience Stores Since the 3rd... Planned Expansion to Hyundai Department Store and Emart24

Since the 3rd, the 'Deposit Change Directly into My Account' service has been available at 2,570 Ministop locations nationwide. Using this service, customers can pay cash for items at convenience stores and receive their change directly into their bank accounts. It is possible to deposit even coins such as 10 won and 50 won, with a maximum deposit of 10,000 won at a time and up to 100,000 won per day. However, to receive change into an account, customers must have a physical bank cash card or a mobile cash card in QR code or barcode format.

However, most people on site were unaware of the system itself. Neither convenience store owners nor employees, nor customers, seemed to recognize the service, indicating a lack of promotion. The situation was similar at other Ministop stores. Even after visiting several convenience stores, no notices or instructions about depositing change into bank accounts were found.

Many also expressed skepticism about the service's potential to become popular in reality. Jeong Jae-young (23, pseudonym), who came to buy a drink at a convenience store, questioned, "Who uses cash at convenience stores these days?" and added, "Among those who use cash, many do so to avoid leaving card usage records, but if the change is deposited into a bank account, records remain, so I don't think people will use this service." Another office worker, Seol Min-su (45, pseudonym), who visited a different convenience store, responded negatively, saying, "To receive change into a bank account, you have to present a physical cash card or mobile cash card, but if you're going to present a card anyway, it's easier to just pay by card."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

They Say a Cashless Society Is Coming... Card Usage Surpasses Cash

Questions about the service's effectiveness have also been raised. The use of credit cards is steadily increasing instead of cash. According to the '2019 Payment Methods and Mobile Financial Service Usage Survey Results' released earlier this year by the Bank of Korea, cash holdings decreased across all age groups. The proportion of credit card users expanded from 29.3% in 2017 to 43.7% last year, surpassing the cash usage rate of 26.4%. This gap is estimated to have widened further this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which increased the number of people staying at home and boosted mobile transactions.

From the perspective of financial institutions, although this service does not significantly contribute to profitability, they are participating out of necessity. A representative from Bank A said, "Since the Financial Payment Service is operated with bank contributions, banks that participated in building the IT system (shared cash card network) for this service join unconditionally without considering its effectiveness," adding, "Even if change is deposited into bank accounts, it doesn't greatly help the banks' profits."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.