We hate coins so much we’re throwing them away
Australian consumers are throwing away five and ten cent coins to avoid carrying them around.
You know that cash is losing its place in society when people are literally throwing it away. New research by ING released today reveals almost all Australians consumers (93%) admit to having thrown away five cent coins, and 29% admit to throwing away ten cent coins.
Small-value coins are being increasingly viewed as worthless. ING's research found 40% of consumers say they throw away five cent pieces because they can't use them, while 29% say they simply find coins inconvenient. And perhaps the biggest first-world problem you'll hear today: 27% of Australians throw away coins because they say it "bulks up their wallet".
Further highlighting our lack of value towards coins, the research found Australians are losing almost $39 million a month in small change. Millennials aged 18 to 34 are the most careless, with 40% saying they lose up to $10 in loose change each month, followed by 36% of those aged 35 to 49. Men are also losing more in loose change each month compared to women, with one-third (33%) admitting to losing up to $10 a month compared to 26% of women.
In line with the research, ING has officially launched its new feature, Everyday Round Up, which has been trialled by select customers for several months. Everyday Round Up enables customers to round up transactions from their Orange Everyday account with the difference being automatically sent to their linked Savings Maximiser.
Customers can chose to round up everyday purchases to the nearest $1 or $5. For example, if a customer purchases a coffee for $3.50 and has selected the $5 round up option, $1.50 will be sent to their linked ING savings account. The Round Up tool works for all transactions made with the Orange Everyday account, including Visa debit, Visa payWave, Apple Pay and Android Pay.
"With our new Everyday Round Up tool, we’re encouraging customers to boost their loose change instead of losing it. It’s a much better alternative to losing change forever and you earn interest on it too," said ING head of product, Tim Newman.
ING customers can activate the new Everyday Round Up feature via their Internet banking or mobile banking app.
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