BOZ RAISES AWARENESS ON BANKNOTES
THE Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has called on members of the public to familiarise themselves with the features of genuine banknotes and report any counterfeits to relevant authorities.
BoZ Manager Currency Front Office Operations, Patrick Phiri, advised the public to scrutinise a number of security features to identify genuine banknotes.
Mr Phiri explained in the BoZ Zambanker Magazine that the easiest way to check and spot counterfeit banknotes was to use the feel, look and tilt-method.
“Bank notes have many security features and it is not expected that members of the public will remember all of them. However, you can pick two or three features that you are comfortable with to use regularly,” he said.
Mr Phiri stressed the need to check more security features if first checks raised suspicions.
He emphasised that the main principle was to compare the suspected note to an already identified genuine note.
The security features to look out for include tactility where genuine banknotes have a feel of roughness when one runs a finger over the note.
Genuine notes have a gold iridescent stripe, peak pixel, watermark value numeral, hologram, security thread and
a serial number.
Meanwhile, Mr Phiri called for heightened collaboration between members of public and the police in combatting currency counterfeiting, as it is a problem that cannot be dealt with by law enforcement agencies alone.
He urged members of the
public not to be afraid of the police but instead work with them in fighting the scourge.
Mr Phiri and BoZ Manager Government Securities, Chiputa Chikatu, said there was enhanced engagement between the Central Bank and the Zambia Police on the amicable handling of counterfeits.