Rush for polymer $2 notes swamps banks
 

The Straits Times
Singapore
19.01.06

With just two weeks to go until Chinese New Year, bank queues for must-have $2 notes are long enough to rival those at bak kwa stalls.

Some branches, especially in the heartland, are so swamped with requests that their stocks are gone by lunchtime.

New $2 polymer notes are particularly popular among those looking for crisp hong-bao-fillers and are snapped up as early as 10.30am at certain branches, some customers told The Straits Times.

New $2 paper notes are the next to go - usually by early afternoon.

"I went last Saturday to change my old $2 notes to the polymer ones, but was turned away after an hour. The teller said they didn't have any more for the day," said retiree L.Y. Yee.

Madam Yee, 51, went back to the branch at 8.30am on Monday and was surprised to see a queue already snaking outside the doors.

A Straits Times check yesterday afternoon found that the queues at the United Overseas Bank and OCBC Bank branches in Toa Payoh Central snaked for several metres outside.

Part of the excessive demand is being caused by people who stocked up on new paper notes a few weeks ago but who now want to swap them for the polymer variety.

The three local banks are adamant they can meet demand.

"We have been able to satisfy most of the demand for the polymer notes," said DBS spokesman Jenny Lee. "There are enough new notes to cater for the festive period, so no need to rush."

There is certainly a passion for polymer over paper.

"The novely of the polymer notes may have helped drive up demand," said DBS' head of consumer banking, Mr Edmund Koh.

To cope, some banks have imposed limits.

DBS states that money must be changed in multiples of $200, while OCBC has placed a cap of $600 per customer.

Both have set up express counters for those wanting $2 notes.

Some people told The Straits Times they did not want "refurbished" $2 notes - old ones cleaned up - as they were not appropriate for the festive season.

"I would lose face in front of my relatives if I gave their children old, washed notes," said "Sally", an administrative officer in her 40s.

She changed about $600 but plans to go back for another batch of $600 - "for my sister and brother."

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issues new and refurbished notes to banks on a weekly basis. But during the Chinese New Year period, more are issued.

MAS said the value of new $2 notes issued to each bank varied from $8 million to $18 million a day. In general, banks receive 75 to 85 per cent of the notes in polymer.

Mr Patrick Chew, head of delivery at OCBC Bank, said that if the bank's allocations could not meet demand, it would put in request to MAS for more new notes.

Said DBS' Mr Koh: "We have sufficient supply of new $2 notes to meet demand."

[Pictures appearing in the original article are omitted from this text.]