Newsmaker… Week: New banknotes cause excitement and ‘concerns’
This week’s featured overall development as Newsmaker of the Week just ended is the overall continued
reactions to Jamaica’s much-touted new polymer banknotes, with some concerns being raised about the
durability of the notes following an assertion that the $1,000 note did not have some of the applicable
security features.
This is while there has been much excitement regarding the new notes, which people in the streets are
calling “new money”.
The new banknotes were lodged in a limited number of ATMs on June 15, and people have been trying to
get a look at them.
Some persons questioned the need for new-look bills when the value is the same as the old ones, while
others saw the new currencies as just another part of the progress of the country.
Early last week, a new $1,000 note was flagged in a viral TikTok post by a woman, who seemingly
showed missing security features on the note’s holographic foil.
The faulty new $1,000 banknote hit the spotlight on social media last week.
This prompted the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) to launch an investigation into the matter, while some persons
carried out other experimentations by scratching selected new notes to see if they would be easily defaced.
The BOJ, in a release on Wednesday, confirmed that it had reached out to the user who initially
posted the video on social media, but said all attempts to obtain the specific note in question
had been unsuccessful.
By late Thursday, the woman in question relative to the reported faulty banknote posted a video in
which she showed a receipt and a letter, both containing the BOJ’s logo and stated that the central
the bank had replaced the purportedly faulty $1,000 note.
“The note received is a replacement for a $1,000 polymer banknote… which has a flaw,” read the
letter from the BOJ to the woman, which was dated June 22.
the issue had been rectified, and called on her critics to highlight that the matter was resolved and
that she had not been creating public mischief.
The BOJ has since verified the authenticity
of the letter, indicating that the faulty banknote has been replaced.
the central bank, the BOJ had reassured the public that it has invested in cutting-edge technologies
and conducted rigorous testing to ensure the durability and security of the polymer banknotes before
their release into circulation.
if a genuine banknote becomes damaged or compromised, it can be exchanged, but only at its office
in Kingston.
The Bank of Jamaica’s (BOJ) logo.
“The bank understands the curiosity and interest surrounding the new notes, and while the notes
withstood the liquid test, it urges members of the public to desist from intentionally subjecting
them to unnecessary tests,” emphasized the statement.
That warning, however, did not stop persons, including a local media entity, from significantly
testing the new notes’ durability. In some instances, using a coin or key partially damaged the
security features on the note’s holographic foil after numerous vigorous attempts.
Overall, the views of some Jamaicans on social media relative to the new banknotes and their
durability remains largely mixed, while others have no concern over the notes, but are rather
excited about using the ‘new money’.
“Why would anyone go out of their way to damage the new money? Jamaicans are just unruly, because
once you don’t damage them, they (are) fine,” opined a woman on Facebook.
“Everybody going crazy over the new notes that have less value,” claimed a man.
Of the reactions relative to the woman with the defective note, a man asked: “All those (who)
criticized her and wished her to be arrested for public mischief, how are they feeling now?”
Many others simply expressed joy for the new money.
“I don’t care what anyone says, I love the feel of the money and it’s pretty bad.
Big up Nigel (Clarke, Finance Minister),” a woman said.
“The new money feels different, like Canadian money. Mi loves it bad. Jamaicans just too negative
and don’t like new things,” a man remarked.
Another said jokingly: “A new money mi want in my barber shop, no more old money because the money nice bad.”
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