Banks call for VND10,000 and VND20,000 polymer notes
 

VietNamNet

08.10.05

Following SBV's request for increased variety in denominations, commercial banks call for issue of small denomination polymer banknotes.   Duong Quang Khanh, Head of the Card Section of Vietnam Industrial and Commercial Bank: “There are two kinds of ATMs (automatic telling machines) in Vietnam: two tray and four tray machines. A four-tray machine costs around US$30,000, while a two-tray machine is $24,000. It is not a big problem for our bank to supply four types of banknotes in our existing ATMs as all of our 300 ATMs have four trays for money. The problem lies in the fact that since only three types of polymer notes are available, it would necessitate a separate tray for existing paper notes. The bank applauds SBV's decision on requesting the supply of four types of banknotes in ATMs as micro business must come in line with macro policies. However, it is difficult and time-consuming for banks to bring small-value notes into ATM circulation.”

Le Vu Ky, Deputy Director General of Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (ACB): ”We are going to import our first consignment of 50 ATMs to serve our plan to issue ATMs early next year, thus SBV’s request is not a problem for us. However, what I am concerned about is that there are not enough polymer notes for ATMs and paper notes are too old for ATMs to count or identify.”

Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, Deputy Director General of the Vietnam Bank for Foreign Trade: ”While in other countries, people mainly withdraw small change from ATMs to buy sundries, in Vietnam, people only withdraw large sums of money with big-value notes. Customers usually withdraw VND1-2mil, only a few people withdraw several hundred thousand dongs, which is the reason why banks do not supply small-value notes. In one order, ATMs can only provide up to 40 notes, so clients will only receive limited cash if the bank provides VND10, 000 or VND20,000 notes.”