(Trinidad Express) If you plan on making a generous offering of old $100 bills at Old Year’s mass this year think again.
The Church is reminding its congregations that, as of December 31, 2019, the old note will no longer be legal tender.
According to a report in this week’s Catholic News, parishes last weekend started informing their congregations about putting the ‘old’ $100 notes into collection baskets at year-end masses.
“The Archdiocese is trying to adhere to the December 31 deadline for exchange of ‘old’ money for the new notes. While parishes should minimise the holding of cash, those with money to exchange should do so as soon as possible. Deposits can be done via night safe deposits or walk-in deposits to the bank by the last working day of the year, December 31. Old $100 notes which are received at year-end masses are to be deposited no later than January 1, 2020 via the night safe deposit,” stated the report.
It added that walk—in deposits of the old notes will not be accepted after December 31, 2019.
“All exchanges of ‘old’ $100 bills after this date have to be taken to the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) for exchange with an explanation of the “Source of Funds”. A ‘no cash’ policy was adopted at the Chancery offices so parishes were advised not to send cash for exchange. Parishes are not allowed to facilitate cash exchange for individuals or organisations. Only funds generated through parish activities are to be exchanged,” stated the report.
The report stated that a memo was issued on December 13 from the Financial Administrator at the Chancery, Desiree Dorant, to parish priests, moderators, finance officers, and Finance Committee members on “Introduction of $100 Polymer Notes by Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago”.
“It informed the Archdiocese will not be able to accommodate the old $100 due to strict guidelines from its bankers, Republic Bank Ltd,” stated the Catholic News.
It noted that on December 5, National Security Minister Stuart Young announced the demonetisation of the $100 note and introduction of polymer notes with new security features and designed to assist the blind.
RBC dispensing new notes
This move, stated the report, was in response to money laundering, tax evasion, counterfeiting, and other criminal activity.
On December 9 the new $100 polymer note was officially launched by Central Bank Governor Dr Alvin Hilaire.
An estimated 80 million of the old $100 were in circulation.
Meanwhile, RBC Royal Bank (RBC) announced yesterday that its Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in Trinidad and Tobago have all been calibrated to dispense the new $100 banknote.
“Oh behalf of the entire team at RBC, we want to thank our clients for their patience during the rollout of the new polymer banknote,” said Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed, managing director for RBC in Trinidad and Tobago. “The quick timelines associated with this process have required us to double our efforts and speed up technical work to make sure our systems can accept and dispense the new banknote. At this already-busy time of year, we want to extend our deepest thanks to everyone involved, including our clients, our vendors, our technical teams, and our branch staff,” stated RBC.
The release stated that RBC clients may now deposit and withdraw the new polymer banknotes at RBC ATMs.
It added that there are no fees for clients to make deposits and withdrawals at RBC ATMs. Standard service fees, however, will apply to RBC clients who deposit their funds over-the-counter inside a branch.
The bank stated that, as always, these service fees do not apply to senior citizens with an RBC SixtyPlus account.
RBC stated to exchange the old banknotes for the new polymer banknotes at RBC, clients are required to first deposit their old banknotes into their accounts before they can withdraw new ones.
It explained that this requirement to deposit funds into clients’ accounts is to maintain accurate records of all cash transactions in keeping with internal policies, established international best practices, as well as the regulatory requirements which RBC must adhere to as a large, global financial institution.
