People mutilating polymer bank notes, says BoZ
 

Times of Zambia

Some members of the public are deliberately rubbing and mutilating the recently introduced K500 and K1,000 polymer banknotes, the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has said

Reacting to queries from the public about the notes which were fading off, BoZ spokesperson, Kabinga Pande, said in a statement yesterday that some people were experimenting on the notes by pouring water and other substances and rubbing the polymer.

He insisted that polymer notes were better than the paper ones.

Mr Pande said the bank had since issued 15.3 million pieces of the polymer notes, but that only 9,500 notes had been withdrawn from circulation for being mutilated or faded.

He said it had been proved that the polymer materials were lasting longer in circulation than the paper notes, as the 9,500 only represented 0.06 per cent.

“This withdrawal rate is much less than paper-based K500 and K1,000 notes when they were in circulation. A significant number of the polymer notes that the bank has withdrawn from circulation appear to have been damaged by deliberate rubbing or mutilation,” he said.

Mr Pande said the trend was illegal and people should be aware that they could be prosecuted if found wilfully mutilating the banknotes.

"The polymer notes were non-porous and the inks on them would normally degrade and fade off quicker than the polymer substrate itself. The faded notes would be withdrawn," he added.

Mr Pande advised people not to refuse partially faded notes, but to take them to BOZ or any registered commercial bank and have them replaced.