In a campaign organized by SEB in Estonia, a man brought several thousand euros in coins to be deposited in the bank

The bank, together with the Estonian central bank and the postal service company Omniva, is holding a campaign encouraging people to reduce the amount of euro coins in circulation. Basically, the promotion is focused on one and two euro cent coins, however coins of other denominations are also accepted.

During the promotion, SEB offers its customers with a current account to deposit coins into their account free of charge.

In total, more than 1,150 bank clients participated in the campaign, bringing a total of more than a million euro coins of different denominations to the bank.

“The smallest amount deposited was 34 cents, and the largest – less than 12,900 euros,” informed Evelīna Koplimē, head of Estonian SEB’s private customer service.

In total, customers delivered more than four tons of coins worth a total of 300,000 euros to the bank’s branches within two weeks.

With the growing popularity of uncertain money payments, there are calls in many places to reduce the circulation of cash. In the Eurozone, in particular, solutions are being sought to reduce the circulation of small denomination coins – one and two euro cents – because their production is expensive and inefficient, and moreover, coins of this type often disappear from circulation.

The Ministry of Finance of Estonia has already prepared a draft law, which envisages reducing the use of one and two euro cent coins, because they are rarely used for payments in shops, but their production and service have an impact on the environment.