‘Substantial’ number of old $100s collected

Central Bank officials do not yet have the full numbers but a “substantial” number of old $100 bills were exchanged for new polymer notes, senior manager of human resources and knowledge management Nicole Crooks said.

In an e-mail to Newsday, Crooks said the bank did not have the exact figure given the dynamics of the current exchange process but at the beginning of the year they had about 77 million notes ($7.7 billion) in circulation. On December 7, Finance Minister Colm Imbert told the Senate that over 80 million $100 bills valued at $8 billion were currently in circulation, though he noted that some would be damaged so the number was not exact.

“The Central Bank has fulfilled all orders to date from the commercial banks and has also facilitated exchanges from members of the public. We will have a specific tally at the end of the exercise,” Crooks added

Since December 9, people have had to exchange their old $100 bills at either commercial banks or the Central Bank for the new bills. As of January 1, the old cotton-paper bill will no longer be legal tender.

Since the bill was introduced there has been at least one video depicting an alleged counterfeit.

Crooks said the video only serves to highlight one of the main reasons for the need to exchange the bill.

“This underscores the need for people to be aware of the security features of the currency,” Crooks said, “The Central Bank held several Know Your Money sessions last week to educate the public on the security features. We also posted videos explaining the features on our YouTube Channel and distributed posters and pamphlets. We intend to continue such efforts, particularly during the run-up to Carnival when a lot of cash is circulating.”