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Old notes
(June 5 2001, cairolive.com)
When you have a bundle of crisp, clean banknotes -- no matter what the denomination -- you almost want to frame them, or keep them in the closet for safekeeping. That's because so much of the money we carry is not in the best of shape.
Yesterday we told you, in today's top news, that a high-level banking official told Al-Akhbar recently that Egyptian banks needed to buckle down on their policies regarding old or damaged notes. The head of the banking union was quoted in a front page item in the paper criticizing banks for not doing their part to stop the circulation of the beat up notes. He said that money is often received from customers and then given to other customers without the requisite checks to make sure all the notes are in good condition. The official stressed that every customer had the right to reject old notes given to them by any bank, and request new ones instead. He blamed certain sectors of the economy for the poor condition the notes are often in. Specifically targeted were manual laborers who, the official said, mishandled the notes, allowing grease and chemicals to interact with the paper, thus speeding up the aging process. The official also said that writing on the notes was illegal, and that this was another primary cause of the problem.
In response, one cairolive.com reader decided to send us his description of a bundle of five pound notes that he recently received as part of a payment when he sold his car. "Out of one hundred 5 pound notes," he wrote...
20 were in good condition
17 were halfway decent
13 were just barely decent, but still on the bad side
23 were highly decayed
22 were dirty, flimsy and disgusting
5 were ripped and unusable
It sounds like whoever gave him the notes had been holding on to them for some time, not knowing what to do with them. The banking official's comments make clear that all you have to do is take them to the bank and exchange them for better ones. Now we just have to hope that the bank also does what it's supposed to do, which is to send them to the Central Bank to be destroyed and replaced, rather than putting them right back into circulation by giving them to the next customer in line.
And remember, from now on, if you're that customer, remember to exercise your right to exchange old notes...
Did you like this article? Send your comments to comments@cairolive.com
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