Eesti Pank Plans for the Year Ahead

The central bank of Estonia, Eesti Pank, ended last year with an announcement that its Omniva coin collection campaign would continue into 2024. Although the programme had only been running for three months (as of December 2023), it had already collected around 3.3 million coins – 65% of which were 1 and 2 cent coins.

In collaboration with Estonian-based postal service and logistics company Omniva, people are able to exchange their accumulated coins in selected post offices (see CMN September 2023). The campaign aimed to collect 1 million coins and ‘proved very popular’, said Rait Roosve, Head of Eesti Pank’s Cash and Infrastructure Department, exceeding its initial target threefold.

Last year’s pilot enabled people to exchange coins fee-free until that initial 1 million coin target was reached, with a 5% service fee introduced thereafter. The bank has said that public engagement with the programme remains even with the introduction of the service fee. The success of the programme, which is ultimately tied to the public engagement, has led Eesti Pank to ensure its continuation for the first part of 2024 at least.