Currencies that are considered rare to get here, including the Vietnamese dong, Indonesian rupiah, Malaysian ringgit and Russian ruble, will be available at the airport, the FSS said.

Currently, the number of currencies allowed for online application for exchange and pick-up at the airport is fewer than 20. Shinhan Bank’s airport branch offers 19, and Woori Bank 13. Shinhan plans to expand the currencies to 44. Woori plans on 43.

“Not only at the airport, but also at ordinary bank branches, the number of exchangeable currencies based on online application will be gradually expanded,” said Ryu Tae-sung, director general at the FSS.

Identity verification procedures will be waived for customers who apply for exchange of foreign currencies worth less than 1 million won on the banks’ homepages, the FSS said.

The Korea Federation of Banks will establish a foreign exchange rate comparison page on its homepage early next year to help consumers check currency types available for exchange at each bank and discount benefits at once.

“Amid the rising number of overseas travelers and growing financial transactions with foreign countries, the demand for a variety of currencies has been high,” Ryu said. “But it has been difficult and inconvenient for consumers to compare discount benefits offered by each bank.”

The watchdog will also have all major four banks -- Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Kookmin Bank, KEB Hana Bank -- accept coins of six currencies -- US dollar, Japanese yen, French franc, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar -- that are leftover from traveling and exchange them into the equivalent value of the domestic currency, starting from October.

At the moment, KEB Hana Bank is the single institution accepting the leftover coins, causing complaints from consumers, the FSS said.

By Song Su-hyun/The Korea Herald (song@heraldcorp.com)