PUTRAJAYA, Feb. 25 -- At a Maybank branch here, a man who wished to be known only as Pak Cik Rahmat waited patiently in line in front of a coin deposit machine, a yellow shopping bag slung over his shoulder.

Inside the bag were not groceries, but years' worth of loose change he had quietly set aside since his bachelor days, long before he got married.

The plastic container he brought along - the kind commonly used to store kuih raya - was filled to the brim.

Days earlier, the man in his 50s had already deposited nearly RM1,000 worth of coins. This was his second trip to the bank, with another RM800 still to go.

"I never liked carrying coins around in my pockets or wallet. It makes walking feel heavy," he said.

For decades, every time...