BY: RACHELLE M. NESSIA
CEBU CITY, May 27 (PIA) --- Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) in Cebu assured the public that all banks continue to accept unfit notes for deposit or exchanged with new ones.
Officials from BSP Cebu and the Cebu Bankers Club made the assurance in a press conference amid reports that some banks are no longer accepting unfit bills.
BSP Cebu received several calls from the public raising concern over speculations that banks have stopped accepting unfit bills.
“Last week, we received reports that dili na daw mudawat ang mga banko ug dunot ug daan nga kwarta (banks are reportedly no longer accepting unfit bills),” said BSP Cebu Regional Director Atty. Ma. Lux Berciles during the presscon.
Berciles said this is not true as all banks are obligated to accept unfit bills under the Clean Note policy of BSP.
“The policy of BSP is to provide the public with good, clean notes. So it is our mandate as well as that of the banks which are agents of Bangko Sentral to accept these unfit notes,” stressed Berciles.
According to BSP, bills that are considered unfit are those that contain heavy creases which break the fiber of the paper, badly soiled/contaminated and/or with writings or presents a limp or rag-like appearance.
Joey Umerez, Cebu Bankers Club outgoing president, said that after learning of the circulating reports claiming that banks are rejecting unfit bills, they immediately sent advisories to their member banks that they are to continue accepting unfit bills either for deposits or exchange.
“That is the advisory we sent last week. Most definitely, banks are accepting unfit bills,” he assured. (rmn/PIA-Cebu)