I move to a new country every three to nine months, which I know sounds kind of… Insane, to most people. But I work online, I don’t have a house, I don’t have kids, and my boyfriend and I both feel like this is the time travel because: Why not?
But I’m not bringing that up just as a conversation starter. My point for mentioning my strange lifestyle is to highlight the fact that I’ve very, very familiar with the issues that come up from travelers. And one of those issues is definitely figuring out what to do with local currency when you head on to a new locale. While I wish I was such a good planner that I managed to spend every last rupee, baht, and peso before catching my flight, I’m not gonna front. I always end up with random, now-useless change at the bottom of all of my bags.
It’s usually not enough to make it worth changing it back to dollars or to transfer into a new currency, but money is money, and anyone who’s ever had a change jar knows that change adds up! So what’s the solution? Better planning? Only using my credit card?
Nope. The solution is Worldkoins.
Worldkoins is an awesome new app that lets travelers trade their leftover money for gift cards that can be used online. Instead of transferring back and forth to dollars, or trying to change MYR to VND, you can simply sign in to the app, find a Worldkoins partner and “give” them your leftover money – a transaction that will validated immediately with an in-app verification code. In exchange, you get credit toward an eGift card, voucher, or discount code that’s redeemable with partner merchants like Skype, Hulu, and Applebee’s, to name just a few. Or, if you’re feeling civic-minded, Worldkoins has also paired with a few awesome charities (including Girls Who Code) that you can choose to donate your money to.
On the other side of this marketplace, people who interact with travelers on a regular basis — anyone from taxi drivers to airport workers to coffee shop baristas — can use the partner app, Dropkoins, to collect money from travelers. These folks get to make some extra cash by collecting a commission for their part in the exchange.
It’s basically a win-win all around.
You don’t even have to be a digital nomad like me to see the value in getting the full value out of all of your money — every traveler should have it. The Worldkoins and Dropkoins apps are both available in the App Store and Google Play. So, go! Get them! What are you waiting for?
Photo Credits
Worldkoins | Konstantin Tronin/Shutterstock
