FRUSTRATION

Frustration was the order of the day on Tuesday as hundreds of people filled several commercial banks in Port of Spain waiting, some for hours, to exchange their old $100 bills for the new polymer notes.

The Central Bank has said after December 31, old $100 bills in circulation will cease to be legal tender.

Many people in the cashiers' lines, including the elderly, were seen clutching manila envelopes and bags close to their chests which presumably contained their $100 bills.

"Yuh see that line, not me, nah. I go come back another day," a man said as he entered Republic Bank's Henry Street branch and quickly left.

At 7.30 am at Scotia Bank's Park and Pembroke Street branch, more than 50 people stood outside waiting for it to open.

Both Scotiabank and RBL announced new temporary working hours in order to help facilitate the changeover. There were similar long lines outside the First Citizens and Royal Bank branches on Park Street in Port of Spain.

While the majority of people were reluctant to speak to Newsday about the process, some senior citizens called on the Government to extend the deadline.

A frustrated customer, who did not want to be named and who was seen leaving First Citizens Bank at around 12.45 pm, told Newsday the process on Tuesday was very slow.

“I was here very early this morning, and look at the time I now leaving the bank. This is ridiculous. I had to wait more than three hours before I could reach a teller. The government should give people more time so there would not be a rush like this.

“Beyond the Tape always tells the public not to walk around with too much cash. Look at what I have to do this morning. This is not safe, especially for seniors who move around by themselves."

The angry customer told Newsday after she received her Christmas money through Western Union she wanted to change the money one time. She said although people left the line to have a seat until their turn came up, it was a horrible experience waiting to get her money changed.

“I don’t know what I would do next week. I have no one coming to the bank with me to be carrying around money in this time and day.

“The process is too slow and the bank should have more tellers working, especially in the morning period, to facilitate the crowd.”

While approaching the bank, another customer, 63, who only gave her name as Linda, turned back because there was too much of a crowd at Republic Bank on Park Street.

Linda said, “I have a bad knee and I cannot stand up in that line, so I would have to come back another day. I don’t know if these people (government) know what they are doing. The time they have given to us is too short. They don’t know the danger they are putting people in.

“I have to pay the driver to bring me back on another day.

"You see that line? They don’t expect us to stand here all day just to change up some money? This is craziness.”

A woman from Diego Martin, who did not want to be named, said she left her home branch to see if the process would be easier in the city.

“That was the biggest mistake I made, coming to Port of Spain. It is even worse. When I saw the lines in Diego I came in town. I don’t think two weeks is enough. What would happen when people get pay next week? That would be madness.

“I don’t want to spend my money, so I need to get it change. I had to sacrifice a lot of my time in that long line to get it change.”

She said the exchange was not much and was only asked for her identification card before her money was changed.

CEO of ADM Distributors Ltd Balliram Maharaj called on business owners to put up signs saying December 27 would be the last day for the public to bring in old $100 bills.

In a release, Maharaj said this process would avoid confrontation and questions between banks, the Central Bank and the public.

Maharaj said it is easier to work around the deadline than to try to arrange meetings in the limited time to distort the entire process, as planned by the authorities.

“Bearing in mind that December 28 and 29 are not bank working days, December 30 will be the last full bank working day for the year, and December 31 will be a half-day bank working day.

“This puts all of us at a high risk to meet the deadline, December 31, 2019, even though most of us who deposit money into the banks on the deadline would observe the funds being credited by the first day of the New Year.”

He said there could be conflicts with deposits being considered as having been made after the deadline on December 31.

Maharaj said as a senior businessman with over 60 years’ experience, he is concerned at the government's decision to take the existing $100 bills out of circulation, especially at this busy time of year.

He said no doubt the government has valid reasons for the decision to update the $100 bills with the security-enhanced polymer notes.