My recent travels took me to Milan, Singapore and Dubai and I totally get how annoying loose change can be. They are a big amount if I convert them to the Indian Rupee but petty to spend otherwise, and no money exchanger will convert it for me. The Add Up is a concept that addresses this desperate scenario that most foreign travelers are faced with. The exchange box takes in your foreign coins and converts the amount to your domestic currency. This amount can be then transferred to your phone account as a credit or added as Skype points.
There is another important aspect to this exchange box, whenever you convert your coins; there is a decimal remainder that needs to be rounded off. Add Up automatically transfers this micro exchange to a registered charity of your choice.
After the currency is exchanged, there are often a few digits after the decimal point. The system will automatically round down the number and donate the small remainder as a micro-donation. When such a small amount is multiplied by over two billion – the world’s annual number of travelers – a massive difference can be made to society.
Add Up is a 2012 red dot award: design concept winning entry.
Designers: Fan Cheng Kuei, Deng Pei Chih & Hsieh Tsai Ni
