POSB INTRODUCES FIRST COIN DEPOSIT MACHINE AT A SCHOOL
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This is part of its 2010 School Outreach Programme
to educate the young on the importance of saving for the future
SINGAPORE, 4 March 2010 - POSB today launched its 2010 School Outreach Programme at White Sands Primary School. Called “Recycling Makes Cents", the programme will educate the young on the importance of coin recycling to conserve the environment and save for their future.
This year's programme is designed to provide experiential learning and will include several firsts for the school children. For the first time, they will be able to deposit their money into their POSB accounts at the coin deposit machines installed at their schools. The children will also be invited to visit POSB branches and view the bank vaults, a first for non bank staff, as well as visits to Singapore Coins and Notes Museum to learn more about the history of currency. POSB is partnering The Singapore Mint in this year's school outreach programme.
To kick start this year's POSB School Outreach programme, several Primary 2 pupils from White Sands Primary School made their first coin deposit at the coin deposit machine at their school today. This is the first time where a coin deposit machine is brought into the school compound, to let the children experience depositing the coin themselves.
The event was witnessed by Jeremy Soo of DBS Consumer Banking Group (Singapore), Mr Yip Pak Ling, Mint Director, The Singapore Mint and Mrs Daphne Yeoh, Principal, White Sands Primary School .
“Being neighbours first, bankers second, POSB has reached out to generations of Singaporean youth through its School Outreach Programme. By introducing a new experiential element to this year's programme, we hope to reach out to more young children in schools and give them an interesting and exciting 'out-of-class' experience to learn about the importance of saving," said Mr Jeremy Soo, Managing Director & Head of DBS Consumer Banking Group Singapore.
Last year, POSB School Outreach Programme reached out to more than 90,000 primary school children in a series of school visits and activities. This year, POSB aims to reach more than 100,000 school children at 80 schools with its new, experiential learning programme.
“The Singapore Mint is proud to partner POSB in its annual School Outreach Programme to teach future generations the importance of saving. Through this year's programme we hope to teach children that coin recycling is an efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly way to save and protect the environment. Today, we estimate 300 to 500 coins can be found in every Singaporean household. Every coin that the children successfully put back into the economy via the coin deposit machines in their schools, will have a direct impact on the environment - we produce one less coin, reduce the use of raw materials and in turn reduce the discharge of toxic waste that will pollute our environment," said Yip Pak Ling, Mint Director from The Singapore Mint.
“White Sands Primary is happy to be the first school to participate in the Recycling Makes Cents programme. It is an interesting way to encourage our pupils to pick up the good habit of saving money and to promote environmental awareness by recycling the coins back into the economy, and reducing the use of raw materials to produce new coins," said Mrs Daphne Yeoh, Principal of White Sands Primary School.
The coin deposit machine will remain in the school for a month before it moves to another school. Three other schools who are keen to have the coin deposit machines installed are Telok Kurau Primary, Loyang Primary and Pasir Ris Primary.
As part of the POSB School Outreach Programme, an educational skit will be staged at participative primary schools to teach children the benefits of coin recycling. The children will also bring home a do-it-yourself coin box for them to start their savings habit. POSB introduced the mascot Smiley Squirrel and the savings using stamps in the 1970s. This was part of its mission to inculcate savings amongst the young at schools. That tradition continues even today.
About POSB
A part of the DBS Group, POSB is the largest local bank in Singapore with 4 million customers. Having served generations of Singaporeans for the past 132 years, it is known as the "People's Bank", and prides itself in being "neighbours first, bankers second".
With a good understanding of Singaporeans through the years, POSB offers products and services that are relevant to the savings, borrowing, investment and insurance needs of all Singaporeans. With 52 branches conveniently located islandwide, and close to 1,000 ATMs and Cash Acceptance Machines across the island, POSB's distribution network is the largest in Singapore.
POSB acknowledges the passion, commitment and can-do spirit in each of its staff. For more information, please visit www.posb.com.sg.