South Korea could soon bid farewell to coins—for good

South Koreans can soon say goodbye to coins jiggling in their pockets.

The Bank of Korea launched on Thursday a project allowing people to deposit their spare change into prepaid card value.

That means they'll be able to get their change at major supermarkets and convenience stores deposited into their cards, rather than receiving physical cash.

If the trial proves successful, the bank says it'll expand the service to more retail outlets such as supermarkets and pharmacies.

There are even plans to enable loose change to be deposited straight into bank accounts by 2018.

A bank survey showed that over 60 percent of South Koreans say they didn't carry coins anymore, with slightly over half of the respondents saying they preferred to go coinless.

All of this is part of the Bank of Korea's ambitious plans to go completely coinless by 2020, and cut the cost of minting coins.

With much of the country reliant on cashless payment, it seems South Korea is well on its way to achieving its goals.

South Koreans use a variety of cashless methods, from debit cards to stored value transportation cards such as T-money, that can be used at retail stores as well.

Mobile payment methods are also quickly gaining traction in the country, with Samsung Pay accumulating $1.7 billion (₩2 trillion) worth of transactions in South Korea in 2016.