If you’re like me, you probably have various small sums of money kicking about at home, in a variety of different currencies – and some for destinations you might not return to for years to come. Some of it you can’t even easily change back into your local currency as they’ll only accept notes of a particular denomination. Aside from donating it to my children’s increasingly exotic coin and note collection, there’s little I can do with it except hang on to it until the next trip to the place in question.

With almost 5 million people flying around the world every day, there must be a lot of unused currency sitting in drawers around the world! In Britain alone, it’s estimated that there is a whopping £3 billion in unused foreign money in people’s homes.

That’s why it’s so exciting to find out there is another way. Travelersbox is an innovative service that offers air travellers a new, convenient way to use their leftover notes and coins and thus a great way to make the most of your unused currency.

Insert your unused notes and coins into a Travelersbox kiosk at the airport and you can deposit your money to an e-wallet such as PayPal, exchange it for a gift card or make a donation to a charitable cause. The kiosks are simple to use with 12 languages offered. With your money converted to ‘cash’ in PayPal, it’ll be at your disposal to spend on all manner of things, be it iTunes, Skype or whatever your fancy takes you. You’ll no longer have the need to have miscellaneous bits of foreign currency kicking around at home, but instead can put that same money to work.

Having deposited your unused money, you will be presented with a transaction summary window showing the amount you have deposited and, once you’ve entered your personal details, you’ll also get a confirmation to your email. How easy and convenient is that?!

So far Travelersbox kiosks can be found at airports in Manchester, Milan, Tbilisi, Manila, Istanbul and other locations in Turkey, and currencies accepted include US and Canadian dollars, UK pounds, euros, Russian rubles, Turkish lira, Philippines peso and Georgian lari, but expect both to expand over time. Of course, you pay for the service – anything from 3-10% depending on the amount you choose to deposit – but then what good is the money just sitting in a drawer back home?

So the next time you’re passing through the airport, instead of getting a useless souvenir at the duty free shop, just look for the orange machine…

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Travelersbox.