Business owners welcome new Canadian bank notes
Introduction of new $20 bills planned for 2012In past years, many small businesses decided not to accept large denomination bank notes for fear of having to deal with counterfeit money. But beginning this November and throughout 2012, The Bank of Canada will be releasing newer and more secure banknotes that may have retailers who are still apprehensive breathing a sigh of relief.
Jane Forbes, program leader for entrepreneurship and small business management professor at Seneca College, said from 2001 to 2004, there was an increase in counterfeit bills and this is when business owners became wary of taking $50 and $100 bills.
Since then, Forbes said two things have happened: more security measures have come out on those bills and they have been reissued, and the retailers have gone through a lot of instruction on how to check the currency's authenticity.
"There is a lot more awareness around it, so while about 96 per cent weren't taking the 50s and 100s, now 99 per cent are." she said.
This means the confidence in our money has grown so the issuing of even more secure money can only heighten that confidence. Forbes said this is important considering hard currency still accounts for of the transactions, which means our move towards a cashless society isn't as far along as we may have thought.
Dave Wilkes, senior vice-president of the grocery division from the Retail Council of Canada, said since all retailers are subject to the problem of receiving counterfeit bills, these new bank notes are a welcome development.
He said anytime an innovation makes counterfeiting harder, this is welcomed by their members. However, there has to be a continuum in the improvement.
"Innovation and the impact of that innovation is only good until somebody catches up to them," Wilkes said.
Over the last several years, Wilkes said there have been several changes in currency and how we check it, like using point of sale scanners and several security features, which has helped to raise the confidence of retailers accepting large bills.
However, Forbes said there are still a percentage of consumers who have the sense that retailers don't want to or accept the big bills.
As well, most consumers use 20s because that's what the majority of bank machines give out.
"In fact, the 20s are half the notes in circulation," she said. "In late 2012, the 20s will be replaced and that is when things are going to change, that is when we'll see the what the biggest impact will be because that is what's we are using the most of the time."
While newer and more secure bank notes could translate into less counterfeit bills in circulation, both Forbes and Wilkes said retailers still have to be diligent in checking their money. This is because if you unknowingly acquire any, you will have to incur that loss.
Forbes said the great thing about these new bank notes is there are so many security features that retailers will be able to use to check the money more quickly and easily.
Since no business can exist accepting cash alone, these new bills could mean there is less fear of losing cash-only customers who want to pay with larger bills.
Both Forbes and Wilkes agreed that the true impact of these new bank notes, if any, will be better revealed once the bills begin to come into circulation. However, it is going to take at least 18 months from the time of each release date, and maybe even longer for the larger denomination bills because they are not used as much by consumers.
http://www.insidetoronto.com/news/business/article/1076690--business-owners-welcome-new-canadian-bank-notes
