2008-07-18 | 293546365The Central Bank of Kenya issues revised guidelines for currency transactions, effective October 1st, 2008. Commercial banks must deposit sorted banknotes and coins, marked as 'FIT' or 'UNFIT', with the Central Bank. The guidelines include criteria for sorting banknotes and coins, as well as instructions for packaging and labeling.
CENTRAL BANKI KUU YA BANK OF KENYA KENYA Haile Selassie Aven P. O. Box 60000 - 00200 Nairobi Kenya Telephone: 2860000 Telex: 22324 l 4th July 2008 Banking Circular No. 4 of 2008 (Amendment) To All Chief Executives Commercial Banks
Further to our Banking Circular Number 4 of 2008, we hereby amend the circular to accommodate the commercial banks' concerns.
The Bank shall continue receiving banknote and coin deposits from commercial banks in their present form. This arrangement will however continue until 30th September 2008.
Effective 1ª October 2008, all commercial banks shall be required to deposit banknotes and coins that have been sorted into either fit or unfit categories and this should be clearly marked on the boxes and bags delivered to the Central Bank.
As agreed in the meeting held on 12th June 2008, the Bank will endeavour to meet the commercial bank coin needs as requested. Enclosed please find the sorting guidelines.
Director, Currency Operations & Branch Administration Department
The objective of banknote and coin sorting is to:-
Maintain a clean banknote and coin policy at all times throughout the country and beyond wherever Kenya banknotes and coins are in use.
To re-circulate fit banknotes and coins within the Banking system in order to derive maximum usage before soiled, worn-out banknotes and mutilated coins are returned to Central Bank for destruction.
Enhance integrity and confidence of Kenya Currency through disposition of clean and positive currency management.
In order that these objectives are met, all those involved in banknote and coin sorting, while undertaking this process, need to clearly separate fit and unfit banknotes and coins destined for re-circulation and destruction respectively.
A criterion is here below spelt out to assist all those involved in banknote sorting:-
| Banknote status | Sorting Criteria | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SOILAGE | Condemn if cleanliness is less than 50% compared to a new banknote of the same denomination. | |||||
| (a) Dirt (b) Stained or discoloured | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| unserviceable | |||||||
| (c) Graffiti - written on | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| unserviceable 100% - all | to | be | rejected | as | |||
| unserviceable | |||||||
| (d) | Washed, | bleached | or | stiff | |||
| (Genuine and depicting UV bright properties) TEARS | |||||||
| 2 | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| unserviceable | |||||||
| (a) Missing corners or tears at the edges (b) Holes - 1mm or wider | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| Banknote status | Sorting Criteria | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| unserviceable | ||||||||||
| (c) Security thread loose or missing | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as | |||
| unserviceable | ||||||||||
| 3 | MUTILATION | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as | ||
| unserviceable (Ensure that | banknote | meets | the | |||||||
| minimum | criteria | for | exchange | of | ||||||
| mutilated notes) | ||||||||||
| OTHERS | ||||||||||
| 4 | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as | |||
| unserviceable | ||||||||||
| (a) Staple pins (b) Cello tape or masking tape on | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as | |||
| banknote | unserviceable | |||||||||
| 5 | GENUINE | BUT | DEPICTS | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| DEFECTIVE PROPERTIES | unserviceable, but submit to CBK for technical analysis and replacement | |||||||||
| 6 | COUNTERFEITS | 100% reject as counterfeits. Submit to CBK or law enforcement agent immediately with customer details where available. |
The criterion for coin sorting is also spelt out below to assist all those involved in coin
| Coin status | Sorting Criteria | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mutilated, Cracked, Major Scratch, | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| Damaged or Defaced | unserviceable | |||||||
| 2 | Discolouration, Corrosion, Tarnish | 100% | - | all | to | be | rejected | as |
| or Oxidised | unserviceable | |||||||
| 6 | COUNTERFEITS | 100% reject as counterfeits. Submit to CBK or law enforcement agent immediately with customer details where available. |
sorting:-
Banknotes to be packaged into Sub-bundles and Bundles. A sub-bundle to contain 100 (one hundred) banknotes and a bundle will comprise 10 (Ten) sub-bundles. Complete bundles to be marked using a label showing details of the Bank and clearly marked 'FIT' in the case of serviceable notes and 'UNFIT' in case of unserviceable notes. In order to standardize practice in the industry, the following labelling colours shall be adopted for each denomination:
| Denomination | Colour of Label |
|---|---|
| 50/= | Light green |
| 100/= | Light red |
| 200/= | Light yellow |
| 500/= | Light blue |
| 1000/= | White label |
Coins should be packaged into bags. All full bags to be marked using a label showing details of the Bank and clearly marked 'FIT' in the case of serviceable coins and 'UNFIT' in case of unserviceable coins.
The following colour tags and pieces per bag have been set in order to standardize
| Denomination | Pieces per Bag | Colour of Label |
|---|---|---|
| 40 | 1000 | Violet |
| 20 | 1000 | Blue |
| 10 | 2000 | Green |
| 5 | 1000 | White |
| 1 | 2000 | Purple |
| 0.50 | 2000 | Yellow |
| 0.10 | 1000 | Cream/Beige |
| 0.05 | 2000 | Red |
practice in the industry.
CURRENCY OPERATIONS & BRANCH ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT July 2008