BSP phasing out old bills, Replacement Process of Old Banknotes (New Design Series, NDS) with New Generation Currency Banknotes

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is phasing out old banknotes or New Design Series bills starting new year.

BSP Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo announced that the demonetization of old banknotes will start on Jan. 1, 2015 to preserve the integrity of the Philippine peso as well as to benchmark with other countries' central banks practice of demonetizing banknotes every ten years to prevent counterfeiting.

Guinigundo said the move is in line with the provisions of Section 57 of Republic Act No. 7653, or the New Central Bank Act, that authorizes BSP to replace banknotes that are more than five years old. The NDS banknotes have been in circulation for almost three decades, he said.

These NDS that will be phased out include old 20-peso bill; 50-peso bill; 100-peso bill; 200-peso bill; 500-peso bill; and one thousand-peso bill.

The NDS banknotes have been in circulation for almost 3 decades:

Demonetizing NDS will result in the circulation of a single currency series in the country – the New Generation Currency (NGC) series.

Issued on December 16, 2010, the NGC banknotes are using new and enhanced security features to help thwart counterfeiting.

The two old designs of 10-peso bill bearing the face of Apolinario Mabini alone and Mabini together with Andres Bonifacio as well as the five-peso-Emilio-Aguinaldo-design bill are included in the demonetization. These three old banknote designs have no formal demonetization in the past years even they were replaced with new 10-peso and five-peso coins.

The NDS bills that will be demonetized are set to replace with the New Generation Currency or the latest designs of paper money introduced by the BSP in December 2010.

The central bank official said the public may continue to use the old banknotes until December 31, 2015 in paying and buying of goods and services and other business or financial transactions requiring the use of cash.

By Jan. 1, 2016, old banknotes can no longer be used in day-to-day transactions. However, from the said date up to Dec. 31, 2016 the public may exchange the NDS for NGC with authorized financial institutions such as universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, rural banks, and cooperative banks or with the BSP at full face value and without charge.

Guinigundo also said that for overseas Filipinos, who have NDS banknotes which could not be exchanged within the prescribed period, they may register from October 1, 2015 until December 31, 2015 through the BSP website. The NDS banknotes may be exchanged with the BSP within one year from date of registration.

By January 1, 2017, the old banknotes will no longer have monetary value and will be considered demonetized.

Guinigundo said that there are 729 pieces of old banknotes or about P192 billion to be demonetized. These are 25 percent of the total volume and 26 percent of the total value in the circulation.

The demonetization of NDS will result in the circulation of a single currency series in the country -- the NGC series.

The BSP had stopped the production of old banknotes since last year.

BSP Announces the Replacement Process of Old Banknotes (New Design Series, NDS) with New Generation Currency Banknotes 

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) announces today the start of the demonetization process on 1 January 2015 for the old banknotes (New Design Series, NDS) as part of its objective to preserve the integrity of Philippine currency. This move is in line with the provisions of Section 57 of Republic Act No. 7653, otherwise known as the New Central Bank Act, which authorizes the BSP to replace banknotes that are more than 5 years old. The NDS banknotes have been in circulation for almost three decades .

The public is advised of the following important information:

* The public may continue to use the NDS banknotes up to 31 December 2015 in paying and buying of goods and services and other business or financial transactions requiring the use of cash. Thereafter, the NDS banknotes will no longer be accepted for payment transactions;

* From 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2016, the public may exchange with authorized financial institutions, namely universal and commercial banks, thrift banks, and rural as well as cooperative banks, their NDS banknotes with the New Generation Currency (NGC) Series at full face value, without charge. The public may also opt to exchange NDS banknotes with the BSP or any of its regional offices/branches around the Philippines ; 

* Government institutions holding in trust NDS series which could not be exchanged during the prescribed period, such as banknotes used as evidence in a litigation case, will have to request the BSP Cash Department in writing, within the period of exchange, for a special exchange arrangement;

* For Overseas Filipinos (OFs) abroad, who have in their possession NDS banknotes which could not be exchanged within the prescribed period, they may register online starting 1 October 2015 to 31 December 2015 through the BSP Website. These NDS banknotes may be exchanged with the BSP within one (1) year from date of registration; and

* Starting 1 January 2017, NDS banknotes that have not been exchanged shall no longer have any monetary value, and are considered demonetized. 

* The demonetization of the NDS will result in the circulation of a single currency series in the country – the NGC Series. The NGC banknotes which were issued on 16 December 2010 use new and enhanced security features to protect the safety of the public against counterfeiters. 

www.bsp.gov.ph