GS Retail to introduce forex kiosks in convenience stores

South Korea's convenience store franchiser GS Retail said on Monday that it would introduce foreign currency exchange kiosks at its convenience store chain GS25 and supermarket chain GS The Fresh from the next day and run the kiosks on a pilot basis.

Ten GS25 and GS The Fresh locations in areas where foreign tourists gather, such as Gimpo Airport, Yeongdeungpo, and Dongdaemun, were selected as pilot stores.

GS Retail explained that it is introducing the kiosk for the purpose of extending financial services to meet the growing demand for tourists after the pandemic.

The kiosk was developed by Ooddy, which operates BuddyCash, an integrated foreign currency exchange service.

Foreign currencies from 15 countries, including dollars, yen, and euros, can be exchanged for won, while won can be exchanged for four foreign currencies including dollars, yen, euros, and yuan.

The kiosk can even accept small changes in foreign currency, which are converted into points and can be used to purchase items in any GS25 stores.

GS Retail plans to apply higher exchange rates to users of the kiosk as more and more foreign tourists visit Korea after it lifted COVID-related restrictions.

Write to Jong-Kwan Park at pjk@hankyung.com