From left to right: Eddie Rong (Chief Executive Officer) and Kenneth Yap (Chief Business Officer)

As an individual who was always hungry for personal and team development, Singaporean Kenneth Yap had always deeply believed that as a citizen of this world, he had so much more to offer in solving problems of today. He had always dreamt of starting his own business, rather than settling for jobs that did not benefit his personal growth - all he was waiting for was the right opportunity.

When his friend and co-founder Eddie shifted out of his university dormitory, he uncovered about HKD$4000 worth of coins, in which he had no idea how to deal with. Spending them would be a hassle for both him and the receiver, while depositing them in bulk would incur a charge. It then struck the duo to come up with a solution tackling the inconvenience of coins. Hence, the idea of HEYCOINS was born.

HEYCOINS is a kiosk network that tackles the hassle and inconvenience created by the use of physical coins. HEYCOINS Kiosk collects coins from the general public and converts them into the digital currency that can be used for various purposes, including e-wallets recharge, gift coupons and charitable donations. Based mainly in Hong Kong, HEYCOINS has processed more than 14 million dollars worth of coins and has made more than 55,000 transactions to date.

In Singapore, offloading coins in bank deposit machines are charged with a average fee of about $0.015 cents per piece of coin. There is even a legal limit on the amount of coins a customer can utilise in a transaction, for instance, under the Currency Act, the existing limit for denominations of 5-cent, 10-cent and 20-cent coins is S$2 per denomination.

HEYCOINS aims to help people find the value of the “Third Side” of their coins - through digitizing its value. In the process of it, the company aims to help economies in operating regions enter the next phase of a digital economy, encouraging the use of cashless payments and transactions. Last but certainly not least, HEYCOINS aims to improve donation revenue flows for their charity partners, by encouraging people to get rid their inconvenient coins for a good cause.

Of course, building a startup never comes without its challenges. Kenneth shares that one of the hardest parts in growing the business is obtaining regulatory approval. To tackle this, he takes a proactive approach in maintaining relationships with regulators. For instance, by giving timely updates of the company’s progress, regulators eventually build confidence in their ability to not only deliver, but also to be accountable.

Forming corporate partnerships was also a challenge, as it required the two parties to see eye to eye on what they wanted to achieve from the collaboration. Nonetheless, the team did not fail to clinch multiple partnerships by constantly reassessing, reflecting and improving, in order to bring a great benefit to any corporate partner.

The problem of cash-heavy, high-coin usage consumer behaviour is one that is consistent throughout the Southeast Asian region. A study by Paypal revealed that 57% of respondents across SEA still utilised cash as a preferred form of payment, revealing the vast untapped potential of digital payment solutions in the region.

As such, HEYCOINS has received much attention from interested parties in neighbouring regional countries. In the next 12 months, HEYCOINS aims to further their regional expansion, beginning with Singapore in Q1 of 2019, as well as in Thailand and Macau. The company is also in talks several partners in Indonesia and Malaysia.

Furthermore, the company is also in the final stages of building an extension to their current kiosk operations - the traveler’s model. These kiosks will be located at ports-of-call, airports and ferry terminals, with a unique feature of allowing travelers to offload all their coins - cash and notes, in the country they are visiting before leaving for home. Users will be able to use the sum of deposited cash with their local e-wallets. HEYCOINS has already established a partnership with WeChat Pay to support Chinese tourists in the initial launch of this feature.

When asked to share a word of advice to fellow entrepreneurs, Kenneth shares three ‘always’ entrepreneurs should heed:

1. Always keep an open mind to the opinions and ideas of others - receive their information and advice without prejudice before assessing the usefulness of such feedback

2. Always appreciate those that have give you their time and effort, do not be afraid to show your appreciation!

3. Always stay curious - you never know when a cross-application of ideas may produce a completely new or extremely relevant solution to a problem.

Visit HEYCOINS’ website to find out more about their work.

HEYCOINS is one of the successful recipients of the Startup SG Founder Grant, administered by TRIVE as their Accredited Mentor Partner (AMP).

From 24 April 2018, TRIVE has announced that it will administer the grant free-of-charge, without any requirement of sweat equity or payment.

Interested entrepreneurs are invited to apply for the grant at TRIVE’s website.