With transactions in foreign currency, particularly US Dollars having long become commonplace in the Guyanese business culture , local business houses including cambios continue to face the threat of counterfeit currency. Four different cambio establishments which The Stabroek Business has spoken to in recent weeks say that they have on several occasions been victims of the counterfeit racket. Other small downtown trading establishments have had similar experiences.
While several business houses are inclined to limit their examination of foreign banknotes for the presence of a watermark as a means of determining whether the note is counterfeit or otherwise, there are other forms of examination that are required if the examination is to be foolproof.
While local banks and, presumably, large business enterprises possess sophisticated machines for carefully examining banknotes, many smaller businesses may consider it too costly to acquire these. What they may not know is that there are smaller, portable, less expensive machines that can be acquired for the purpose.
One such machine is that Accu Banker D500 Super Dollar Authenticator which, apart from being capable of counterfeit detection the machine registers the denomination of the note fed into it and adds the total amount of money that it processes. Counterfeit notes are promptly rejected.
The D500 Super Dollar Authenticator determines the authenticity or otherwise of the US$ by ultra violet detection, magnetic detection, watermark detection and infrared detection. and is being distributed by Starr Computers. The company’s President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Mohan who facilitated a demonstration of the D500 authenticator recently points out that his decision to stock this particular piece of equipment was a response to what he believes is the need for small businesses to be better protected against the threat of becoming victims of counterfeit US dollars. Mohan points that the D500 is small, portable, affordable to small businesses, quick and highly reliable.
