BSP to issue new P100 bills with stronger violet color

CAN you now spot the difference? Old peso bill (top) new (bottom).

FOLLOWING complaints that the P100 and P1,000 bills seem to look alike, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) will release Monday 100-Piso banknotes with a stronger mauve or violet color.

In a statement, the BSP said the issuance of new 100-Piso banknotes was “in response to suggestions from the public to make it easier to distinguish from the 1000-Piso banknote.”

“Compared with the current color of the 100-Piso banknote in circulation, the new 100-Piso banknote will have stronger mauve or violet color on the obverse and reverse sides,” the BSP said, even as all other features of the P100 bill will stay the same.

The BSP said it will henceforth print only the new 100-Piso banknotes with stronger color, but the public can still use and businesses must continue accepting the New Generation Currency P100 bills with fainter color.

“The current 100-Piso banknotes can still be used for daily transactions for payment of goods and services and will commingle with the new 100-Piso banknotes with stronger mauve or violet color until supplies of the first version last,” the BSP said.

Taxi drivers like Wilson Arcilla, 31, welcome this move from the BSP to make the P100 bill more distinct from the P1,000, as they were having difficulty when giving their passengers’ change, especially at night, he said in an interview Sunday.

A cab driver for four years now, Arcilla said that one night, a customer whose fare reached P120 told him to instead give back P300 as change for the P500 bill paid.

Arcilla thought he got lucky from the generous passenger, only to later find out when he gassed up that he seemed to have lost P1,000.

“That’s when I realized that I may have given a P1,000 bill with two P100 bills as change,” Arcilla said. The seemingly generous customer never contacted him to return the extra change.

As a result, Arcilla said he had to work overtime that night to make up for the lost money—instead of ending his trip at 9 p.m., he had to look for more passengers until 4 a.m. the next day.

Arcilla said he hopes the 100-Piso banknote with stronger violet color would no longer make it difficult for them when giving passengers’ change.

For Arcilla, the P100 and P1,000 bills of the old banknote series, which the BSP dubbed as the New Design Series, were easier to distinguish. These bills introduced in 1985, however, will be demonetized next year.

The BSP reminded the public that banknotes belonging to the New Design Series are no longer accepted in daily transactions since the end of last year. Those with old banknotes nonetheless can still exchange their old bills with New Generation Currency banknotes through authorized agent-banks or the BSP’s cash department as well as regional branches and offices until Dec. 31.

In 2017, all old banknotes will no longer be accepted in transactions nor traded with the BSP and banks, as they will have no monetary value.

Next year, only the New Generation Currency banknotes series being issued since 2010 will remain legal tender in the country. AC