New colored P100 bill out in January, says BSP

MANILA, Philippines - The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) is set to release the “new colored” P100 bill in January to enable the consuming public to easily distinguish it from P1,000 banknotes.

BSP Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. said the new P100 bill would have a different shade of blue to distinguish it from the P1,000 bill amid the rising number of complaints from the public.

“We will be coming out with a new colored P100 bill. It will have a different shade actually, mauve from bluish gray. It will have the same design but only different in color,” Tetangco added.

Both bills that are part of the New Generation Currency (NGC) banknotes launched by the BSP in 2010 seemed to look similar in terms of color.

The consuming public are having difficulty distinguishing the P100 and P1,000 banknotes especially in the evening.

“There are instances wherein consumers pay the P1,000 bill instead of the P100 bill especially at night. With the new P100 bill, they could easily distinguish it from the P1,000 bill,” he said.

For the meantime, the BSP chief urged consumers to inspect their bills thoroughly before making their payments especially during the Christmas rush.

BSP earlier said the NGC series is user-friendly and allows easy identification of each denomination because of the dominant color that uses distinct and primary inks.

These banknotes also have several new and enhanced security features to protect the currency against counterfeiters. These include the big numerals corresponding to the value printed on both sides as well as the intaglio-printed front side of the currency to give an embossed feel and help the visually-impaired differentiate each denomination.

The BSP reminded the public that the New Denomination Series (NDS) banknotes launched in 1985 could only be used for daily transactions until December this year.

Starting January, only the NGC bills would be the currency in circulation.

However, the NDS bank-notes could still be exchanged in banks and BSP offices until December next year before being demonetized in January 2017.

The BSP under Republic Act  7653 or the new Central Bank Act of 1993 could call in for replacement notes of any series or denomination that are more than five years old and coins that are more than 10 years old.