BSP reminds public anew to swap old bills

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas-Cebu Regional Office is appealing to the public to take advantage of the remaining days to be able to have their old banknotes exchanged with the new ones.

The public now has until Dec. 29 this year to exchange old bills into the New Generation Currency (NGC) series.

In a press conference Monday, BSP-Cebu Director Leonides Sumbi appealed to those who still have their old bills to go to BSP offices and have them exchanged.

She said she still has no idea whether the deadline would be extended again.

Citing official data, Sumbi said that from Oct. 30 to Dec. 15, BSP-Cebu had exchanged P20.2 million worth of old banknotes with the new ones.

It can be recalled the BSP previously set a Dec. 31, 2016 deadline for the public to turn in notes with the old design to banks and its offices but granted three extensions, leading to a Sept. 30 deadline this year.

But the central bank further extended the deadline to Dec. 29 "in response to numerous requests from the general public to allow the exchange and replacement of their New Design Series (NDS) banknotes."

The replacement or exchange transactions on the NDS banknotes shall be accommodated without charge at BSP offices.

The BSP allows the exchange of demonetized NDS banknotes in cash to a maximum amount of P100,000 per transaction. NDS exchange for larger amounts may be allowed but payable only by check or direct credit to a bank account.

The old bills, which were used since 1985, had been demonetized since January 1, 2016, meaning they already have no value.

The new bills have been in general circulation since 2010.

Under the New Central Bank Act, the BSP can replace bank notes which have been in use for over five years.

Yesterday, Sumbi also presented the NGC banknotes in various denominations with enhanced designs.

Carlo S. Lorenciana