Banks urged not to issue old notes
Jun 04, 2008
Officials from Bank of Uganda have advised financial institutions to stop issuing old and dirty notes to the public. “Such notes should be taken to Bank of Uganda because this is in line with the central bank’s policy of maintaining a clean currency regime,†Vincent Odoi, said last week.
By John Omoding
Officials from Bank of Uganda have advised financial institutions to stop issuing old and dirty notes to the public. “Such notes should be taken to Bank of Uganda because this is in line with the central bank’s policy of maintaining a clean currency regime,†Vincent Odoi, said last week.
This was during a meeting on “know your money awareness programme for cash handlers†at Golden Ark Hotel in Soroti town.
Representatives from commercial banks, micro-finance institutions and corporate firms in Mbale and Soroti districts attended.
They were sensitised on how to guard against counterfeits and preserving the physical quality of money.
Odoi urged the public to desist from writing, stamping and tying money with sisal and instead use rubber bands.
He explained that prolonged storage of notes or soiling them with food or oil forces Bank of Uganda to withdraw them from circulation, thus increasing the Government’s expenditure.
“When notes are poorly handled, the security features may not be easily identified, making it difficult for the public to differentiate a legal tender from counterfeits.
“Currency is expensive to print. Mishandling it leads to high levels of cancellation and replenishment of bank notes.â€
Odoi urged financial institutions to buy the appropriate equipment to enable them identify counterfeits easily.
Whoever gets a fake note should go to the nearest commercial bank, the Bank of Uganda or the Police, Odoi advised. “It is a criminal offence to try to pass or keep a bank note that you either know or suspect to be counterfeit.
“If you inadvertently receive a note that you believe to be fake, take it to the nearest Police station.â€
He said a genuine note has a water mark, a security thread with optically variable ink, which is a colour shifting ink at the bottom left corner of the front of a note.
It changes colour when viewed at different angles. Odoi added: “The note also has iridescent feature, see through register, Ultra Violet (UV) dullness. Under UV light, the paper of a genuine note does not become fluorescent. Instead, features like silk fibres and security thread become visible.â€
The serial numbers on the left side of the note turn green, while others on the right turn red under UV light.
Officials from Bank of Uganda have advised financial institutions to stop issuing old and dirty notes to the public. “Such notes should be taken to Bank of Uganda because this is in line with the central bank’s policy of maintaining a clean currency regime,†Vincent Odoi, said last week.
This was during a meeting on “know your money awareness programme for cash handlers†at Golden Ark Hotel in Soroti town.
Representatives from commercial banks, micro-finance institutions and corporate firms in Mbale and Soroti districts attended.
They were sensitised on how to guard against counterfeits and preserving the physical quality of money.
Odoi urged the public to desist from writing, stamping and tying money with sisal and instead use rubber bands.
He explained that prolonged storage of notes or soiling them with food or oil forces Bank of Uganda to withdraw them from circulation, thus increasing the Government’s expenditure.
“When notes are poorly handled, the security features may not be easily identified, making it difficult for the public to differentiate a legal tender from counterfeits.
“Currency is expensive to print. Mishandling it leads to high levels of cancellation and replenishment of bank notes.â€
Odoi urged financial institutions to buy the appropriate equipment to enable them identify counterfeits easily.
Whoever gets a fake note should go to the nearest commercial bank, the Bank of Uganda or the Police, Odoi advised. “It is a criminal offence to try to pass or keep a bank note that you either know or suspect to be counterfeit.
“If you inadvertently receive a note that you believe to be fake, take it to the nearest Police station.â€
He said a genuine note has a water mark, a security thread with optically variable ink, which is a colour shifting ink at the bottom left corner of the front of a note.
It changes colour when viewed at different angles. Odoi added: “The note also has iridescent feature, see through register, Ultra Violet (UV) dullness. Under UV light, the paper of a genuine note does not become fluorescent. Instead, features like silk fibres and security thread become visible.â€
The serial numbers on the left side of the note turn green, while others on the right turn red under UV light.