Passengers traveling through Singapore Changi Airport can now utilize their unneeded foreign change (or remaining Singapore dollars), using the new TravelersBox kiosks located at the airport. TravelersBox is an innovative fintech company that helps travelers convert their leftover foreign currency, including bills and coins, into digital money with favorite e-Gift cards (iTunes, JD.com, Grab, Tokpedia, Starbucks, Facebook) or e-wallet brands (PayPal and Baidu).
They may also 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. This way, money that would otherwise be kept in a jar of mixed coins and bills, is now of value again.
“We are happy to welcome TravelersBox to Changi Airport and offer this useful service to the over 58 million passengers who pass through each year. We always strive to innovate in our product and service offerings to meet, and exceed our travelers’ needs. I believe this addition will make their Changi Experience a more delightful one,” said Mr. Albert Lim, Senior Vice President of Passenger Experience, Changi Airport Group.
TravelersBox kiosks were first installed in Changi Airport in mid-December and in that time, there have been four times more transactions in Singapore than in the next best performing airport.
Exchange leftover money from your trip. Source: travelersbox.com
“Singapore Changi Airport is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia and the world, and we are thrilled to be able to join an airport of this scale. We believe that this is a service that will be of great value to travelers here and we will continue to bring leading brands and companies onboard as partners,” said Tomer Zussman, CEO and founder of TravelersBox.
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 to US$15 each time.
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. He then founded the firm together with Idan Deshe to capitalize on this market gap.
There are eight kiosks located at Terminal 1 and 3 in the initial period which will accept nine currencies, including the Singapore Dollar, Indonesian Rupiah, Australian Dollar and Chinese Renminbi. Visitors will be able to change these currencies into credits with companies such as Grab, Tokpedia, Lazada, Facebook and Amazon.ch, with more to come in the future.
Currencies accepted in TravelersBox Changi Airport
Singapore Dollar, Thai Baht, Australian Dollar, Chinese Renminbi, Indonesian Rupiah, Hong Kong Dollar, Japanese Yen, Philippine Peso, Malaysian Ringgit.
Partners in TravelersBox Changi Airport
Amazon.ch, Amazon.jp, Facebook, Grab, iTunes, Lazada, Qoo10, Starbucks, Skype, Tokopedia, Viber, Changi Foundation.
Featured picture – travelersbox.com
