Russian holders of e-currency accounts may now make use of their leftover foreign coins and bills when traveling abroad. Yandex.Money, a leading Russian e-currency with more than 25 million user accounts, has partnered with international service provider TravelersBox to provide its users with this service, following the examples of PayPal and Qiwi.
Using TravelersBox’s kiosks in the airports of Milan (Italy), Toronto (Canada), Manila (Philippines), Tel Aviv (Israel) and Tbilisi (Georgia), as well as Japan and India in the future, e-currency account holders may deposit their foreign coins and bills in their e-wallets before departing for their home country.
Travelers select their e-currency operator rom the screen of the kiosk, log in to their e-wallets, and insert their leftover money. TravelersBox will convert foreign currency into whatever currency the user’s e-wallet is in. The exchange rate is determined by the local bank’s official rate on the day of the deposit. Once a user completes the transaction, he receives an email confirmation with instructions for redeeming the deposit. After the redeem process is complete, the money becomes available to the user within 48 hours, according to Yandex.Money.
TravelersBox fee — starting from 5% — may vary based on the location, transaction amount, and service. Yandex.Money, on its side, takes a 1% fee.
TravelersBox already has 75 kiosks in six countries and plans to launch 150 more kiosks this year in other countries. The TravelersBox kiosks offer allow travellers to deposit their leftover foreign currency, coins and bills, into online accounts of electronic currencies and gift cards, or make a donation.
Last year the company raised $4.5 million to fuel its international expansion.
