Bangko Sentral Renews Call to Exchange Old Money
By: Lira Dalangin-Fernandez, InterAksyon.com
December 7, 2015 6:04 PM
MANILA, Philippines – The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday made a fresh call to the public, including overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), to use or exchange old banknotes in their possession within the year.
Effective January 31, 2016, the old banknotes series can no longer be used in daily transactions to pay for goods and services.
These old banknotes being demonitized belong to the series launched in 1985, consisting of P5, P10, P20, P50, P100, P200, P500 and P1000 notes, as pictured below:
Only the new banknotes can be used for daily transactions starting this date, according to BSP deputy director Maja Gratia Malic, in a briefing at the House of Representatives.
The old banknote series can be exchanged for the same value for the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes in authorized agent banks and at the BSP cash department or any of its regional offices and branches, Malic said.
As for OFWs holding the old banknotes, the BSP official said that they should register their old banknotes with BSP between October 2016 and December 2016. They are given a period of one year from the time of registration to replace the old bills to new ones.
Each OFW can register only up to P10,000 worth of banknotes.
As for banknotes stored as evidence, Malic said the courts or any legal body or agency in custody of the money has until 2017 to report to the BSP the amount in their custody. The old banknotes will be replaced with the new ones after the final determination of the case, she said.
Except for the cases involving old banknotes with OFWs and in custody of the courts, the old banknote series will be demonetized or will no longer have monetary value starting January 1, 2017.
Malic said the BSP needed to demonetize as a way to safeguard the currency from counterfeiters. As a matter of practice, central banks around the world change the design of their currencies that have been in circulation for over 10 years.
In the case of the Philippines, the old banknote series have been in existence for 30 years or since 1985. The NGC series was launched in 2010.
As of September 2015, Malic said that there are still 432 million pieces of old banknotes worth P67 billion, which are in circulation.
The new banknote series has six denominations – 20, 50, 100, 200, 500 and 1,000.
The series features the new BSP logo and has a wider security thread. Its serial number is composed of 1 or 2 prefix letters and 6 or 7 digits which are increasing in size.
The reverse side of the new notes features iconic natural wonders and species that can be found in the country. The new notes also uses new security features to guard against counterfeiters.