BSP reminds public, stakeholders on deadline to swap old bank notes

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Photo: BSP/Facebook)

MANILA— The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) on Monday reminded the public about their last chance to swap New Design Series (NDS) banknotes for New Generation Currencies (NGCs) until March 31, 2017.

The extension from the initial deadline of Dec. 31, 2016 was made to heed public clamor on this.

The public may exchange their NDS holdings at face value to authorized agent banks, which in turn are given until June 30 this year to swap the NDS at the central bank.

Offices of municipal, city or provincial treasurers are given until June 30 this year to swap NDS that they have inventoried on or before March 31, 2017.

Overseas Filipinos, Filipino immigrants and non-residents are given until March 31 this year to register with the BSP their NDS holdings, with maximum amount set at PHP50,000.

The central bank said NDS banknotes registered by this last group of stakeholders from October 1 to December 31 last year should be submitted for exchange with the BSP within one year after registration.

“On the other hand, NDS banknotes registered from January 1 to March 31, 2017 shall be submitted for exchange with NGC banknotes until December 31, 2017 at any BSP office,” the central bank said.

The BSP added that overseas Filipinos who are currently based in war-torn countries are given until end this year to swap their NDS even without registering with the central bank.

NDS were launched in 1985 while NGCS, which features the new BSP logo and has more security features, were released in 2010.