Universal gift card – crisp bills
ROMA LUCIW
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Despite the increasing popularity of gift cards, Canadians still love receiving cash during the holiday season. Crisp, clean cash, that is.
Demand for bills traditionally spikes in December, with the biggest surge of the year coming on the last business day before Christmas, according to Bank of Canada spokeswoman Monica Lamoureux. On that day, financial institutions require five time more bills than they typically do.
“We see this every year,” Ms. Lamoureux said.
“There is a clear increase in demand for bank notes of all denomination at Christmas. But there is a particularly high demand for higher value notes like the $20, $50 and $100.”
The demand spike is triggered, in part, by a rush of frantic, last-minute shoppers. But the desire for fresh, larger bills can also be attributed to the tradition of giving money as gifts, bonuses or for tipping.
Paul Gammal, a spokesman for Bank of Montreal, said their branches notice that more people request new bills during the holidays, notes that are mostly used for gifts.
“Some employers want them for bonuses and families put them into cards.”
Canadians also use bills for tips during the holiday season.
A Bank of Montreal release recently suggested tipping the following service providers: barbers, hairstylists, babysitters, nannies, dog walkers, cleaning ladies, newspaper delivery folks, letter carriers, tutors, daycare workers, senior caregivers, condo staff, taxi drivers and valet parking attendants.
The Bank of Canada monitors demand closely to prevent a possible shortage of bills.
It decides how many notes will be put into circulation well in advance, typically ordering notes six months before they're needed.
Although gift cards are becoming increasingly prevalent as gifts, and many Canadians use debit and credit cards to pay for their holiday purchases, demand for cash has been rising steadily.
“Despite the different forms of payment that have grown in popularity, cash is still very popular among Canadians,” Ms. Lamoureux said.
“We are not seeing that trend change. If anything, demand is increasing.”
Demand for Canadian banknotes has been climbing 4 per cent each year.
The Bank of Canada estimates that there were $48-billion worth of all manner of bills in circulation last year – or 1.4 billion notes.
In addition to the Christmas holidays, demand for Canadian notes spikes in the summer.
Bills are also traditionally given as gifts on Chinese New Year.
© The Globe and Mail
