Households Have Over £1.5 Billion in Loose Pennies, But They Don't Pick Them Up!

LONDON, July 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

A survey conducted for Netmums users and released today by Coinstar, revealed that just under 70% of households have loose change lying around their home that never make it to a savings jar, equating to £60 a year per household on average and a shocking accumulative £1.5 billion in the UK!  

Surprisingly, given the surplus cash, the survey revealed that we are a nation that likes to save our small change, with two thirds of mums popping their pennies in a jar and over 50% of kids following suit. In fact, when us Brits do collect our pennies, we save on average £95 a year.

Sarah Willingham, money saving champion, says: "You'd be surprised how much loose change you have lying around the house on dressing tables and down the back of the sofa! Popping your coins into a piggy bank is so easy and is a great way to get your kids into the saving habit too."

Nick Harris, Director, Coinstar, says: "It's surprising how much the nation 'throws' away in coins every year. The fact that we're a nation used to tightening out belts, we should be looking after the pennies so the pounds look after us."

Coinstar kiosks can be found in over 1,900 outlets including major supermarkets, so you don't have to trudge far with your loose change. There's no need to count out the change either, just chuck it in the kiosks and let them do the counting.

For more information, visit http://www.coinstar.co.uk

Notes to Editors    

All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from a survey conducted by Netmums for Coinstar. Total sample size was 1,300 adults. The survey was carried out online. The figures are representative of all UK adults (aged 18+).

About Coinstar    

Coinstar, part of the Outerwall Inc. (NASDAQ: OUTR) family, is a leader in money services. It owns and operates the only multi-national, fully automated network of self-service coin-counting kiosks. The company has approximately 20,300 coin-counting locations in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Coinstar kiosks processes approximately $3 billion in coins annually.

To find your nearest machine, visit http://www.coinstar.co.uk/coinmachine and pop your postcode into our handy machine locator.