Pocket Change: Solve the problem of the remaining Japanese currency cash of Japan's free travel at one time

In the past, when traveling freely in Japan, various Japanese yen coins were troublesome for payment hours, and it was troublesome to carry around. This time, when traveling freely in Tokyo, I used my iPhone wallet to load Suica watermelon card and take transportation or shop shopping. You can pay immediately with a beep at any time, and you can use Apple Pay to add value at any time. The change accumulated from other transactions is too lazy to use it when you pay. After the accumulation, go to the airport and use Pocket Change to deposit the change into Suica directly. For shopping at the airport or save it for your next visit to Japan.

Pocket Change's new service profile

Pocket Change is a Japanese startup service company established in December 2015. The company’s headquarter is located in Tokyo. It has branch offices in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Its main business is the development and promotion of Pocket Change services. Through the establishment of self-service machines (Kiosk ), to assist passengers in changing various types of cash such as change and banknotes into other foreign currencies, shopping coupons, value-added gold, etc.

Pocket Change machines are mainly set up in major airports and stations in Japan. They support 10 currencies in Asia, Europe and the United States. Japanese yen, Korean won, Renminbi, Euro, and U.S. dollars support banknotes and coins, Taiwan dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Thai baht, Singapore dollar, and Vietnam. The shield currently only supports banknotes. The exchange rate is calculated at the current exchange rate. The currency cannot be identified or is not supported. You can choose to refund or donate directly.

▲ The green appearance of the Pocket Change self-service kiosk is derived from a new service created in Japan.

How to use Pocket Change

Pocket Change self-service kiosks provide English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese language interfaces. After you first select your preferred language, follow the instructions on the screen to select the exchange items. After you deposit cash, you can complete the cash exchange service.

Next, let's take a look at Wendy's actual use at Narita Airport this time!

▲ Pocket Change provides a friendly multi-language interface, and the operation process of the touch screen is also very simple.

▲ Before using, you can select your preferred language interface.

▲ The first page of the screen provides instructions on usage, exchange items and exchange rate of the day, or you can click to start.

Step 1: Select country and exchange item

Pocket Change provides exchange programs in five major countries: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, and South Korea. After selecting the applicable country, you can confirm the upper and lower limits of the exchangeable amount for each service according to the electronic currency or ticket code you want to exchange.

▲ Provide services applicable to Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea and other countries.

▲Choose the Japanese region, and click the transportation IC card project of the first project.

▲ After confirming the maximum stored value amount, click OK.

Step 2: Insert foreign currency banknotes and coins

After entering the cash input screen, you can start to input coins and banknotes from various countries at the same time. There is no limit to the number of coins. At the same time, you can choose to refund or donate coins and banknotes that are not supported or unreadable.

▲ Enter the screen to start inserting coins and banknotes.

▲ Coins and banknotes can be input at the same time, currencies of various countries can be input at the same time, and the recognition ability is quite strong.

▲ As cash is poured in, the screen begins to display the amount of cash in different countries.

▲ At this time, no one is waiting behind, so let Little Burger be a helper.

Step 3: Complete the exchange

After completing the cash input, confirm the exchange program service and the exchange amount. You can confirm the exchange rate here. If there is a coupon code, you can enter the code to obtain the preferential exchange rate, such as various digital codes such as "9906049".

If you choose an inductive electronic currency, you can add value on the spot and print out the receipt by sensing the card or smart phone in the induction area under the machine; if you choose a gift certificate or coupon, a gift barcode or coupon code will be printed Receipt, follow the contents of the receipt to redeem the service later.

▲ If you are redeeming other gift certificates other than electronic IC cards, you can enter the coupon code at this time to obtain a more favorable exchange rate.

▲ After confirming the value-added amount, take out the transportation IC card and directly sense it on the machine.

▲ Wendy uses the iPhone loaded in Suica to sense, and the bonus can be directly displayed on the spot.

▲ After the traffic IC card sensing is completed, the machine will print a paper receipt.

Sharing experience with Pocket Change

Pocket Change can store the value of Japanese transportation IC cards, and can also redeem electronic currency or online service coupons applicable to various countries. The self-service kiosk provides multi-language interface and simple operation instructions. The touch screen operation is very handy, and there is no need to enter personal phone numbers. Personal privacy information such as e-mail and passport number completely solves the problem of cash in a pile of change and banknotes that are common in Japan's free travel. It can be said to be a new and commendable service.

The only problem at present is probably that the location of the machine is not universal. Although all major airports have it, you have to look for it a little bit. I hope that in addition to the more popular machines, the types of currencies and service coupons that can be exchanged will gradually expand.At the end of the article, a map of the machine setting is provided, and those who are interested can check beforehand to find out the setting location where their itinerary will pass.

Priority recommendation of value-added transportation IC cards

Pocket Change supports nine types of Japanese transportation IC cards: Suica (watermelon card), ICOCA, PASMO, Kitaca, TOICA, manaca, SUGOCA, nimoca, and hayakaken. It is the most suitable service for people who frequently travel to Japan. , There will be no exchange rate losses caused by exchange rates.

• Taiwan: Viber, Ctrip, Rakuten, ecoPayz
• Japan: Public Transport e-money, Rakuten Edy, App Store & iTunes JP Gift Card, Amazon.co.jp Gift Certificate, WAON, nanaco
• South Korea: TicketMonster, cultureland, T-COIN
• China: Ctrip, WeChat
• United States: ecoPayz, Domino's Pizza eGift Card Custom, Target, Viber US, Barnes & Noble, Uber, Reward Link Preferred,,
• Others: Croma E-Gift Card, ecoPayz, ecoPayz(GBP), Fastrack E-Gift Card, TW Rakuten Super Points, Uber, Viber Global/EU, YBCoin, Zalando / Belguim, France, Germany, Zalando (Denmark), Reward Link Australia, Reward Link Canada, Reward Link India, Reward Link Singapore, unicef, Japan Committee, Vaccines for the World's Children, プラン・インターナショナル

Considering the limited redemption items available in Taiwan and the low use opportunities, Wendy can directly use the Suica transportation card on the iPhone to store value and bind her Apple ID account. There is no need to worry about losing the physical transportation card or redemption voucher. You can use it next time you visit Japan. Even at the airport, you can continue to use Suica for credit card consumption, which is very practical.

▲ It is the most convenient to use the iPhone to sense online recharge, so there is no need to worry about losing the card or voucher.

Promo code to get preferential exchange rate

If you don’t want to store value in a Japanese transportation IC card and want to redeem for online services such as Apple Store & iTunes, Rakuten, Ctrip, WeChat Pay, etc., it is recommended that you enter the Promo Code in the confirmation amount screen:9906049, You can get a more favorable exchange rate in exchange for a higher amount of service items.

◎ List of Pocket Change's establishment in Japan
– Official website: https://www.pocket-change.jp/