As we ring in the new year, preparations for the Chinese New Year festivities are also upcoming.
New and fit-for-gifting notes – notes generally clean and of suitable quality for recirculation – will be available from 5 Jan, DBS said on Tuesday (27 Dec).
These notes can be withdrawn from 72 DBS ATMs across 47 locations islandwide.
Source: DBS
Members of the public can soon pre-book appointments to exchange their cash for fit-for-gifting notes through banks’ online reservation systems.
Every Lunar New Year, long lines can be seen at banks and ATMs as people scramble to get hold of the new notes for their red packets.
S$2 or S$10 denominations are even harder to get hold of from ATMs during the festive season due to demand.
On Tuesday (27 Dec), DBS Bank announced that there will be 72 DBS and POSB pop-up ATMs across 47 locations offering new and fit-for-gifting notes.
This is up from the 64 ATMs offered in 2022.
These pop-up ATMs will be located at DBS/POSB self-service branches and community centres.
Customers can refer to DBS/POSB map locator to find out the locations of these ATMs.
From 5 Jan, the online map will also provide updates on estimated queue times at each location.
The service is available from 10am to 10pm from 5 Jan to 20 Jan. On 21 Jan, the eve of Chinese New Year, it will be available from 10am to 1pm.
POSB staff will be available at all 47 locations to assist customers during operational hours.
During this period, customers will be limited to three withdrawals of new and fit notes.
To bring greater convenience to the public, DBS, OCBC, and UOB will be offering online reservations for both new and fit-for-gifting notes.
From 5 Jan, members of the public will be able to pre-book their collection slots for the exchange of notes online.
This can be done at the respective bank’s online reservation system. For most banks, this is done in two separate window periods.
Source: DBS
Denominations of S$2, S$10, and S$50 notes will be available for reservations.
For DBS, customers can reserve S$10 and S$50 notes in batches of S$100 up to S$500.
Walk-in exchanges at bank branches will only be permitted for the elderly aged 60 and above as well as people with disabilities.
On Tuesday (27 Dec), MAS said they are encouraging members of the public to use fit-for-gifting notes or e-angbao this coming Lunar New Year.
These notes are clean and of suitable quality for recirculation, including festive gifting.
The condition of the notes has been verified by banknote processing machines and is similar in quality to notes from ATM machines.
Recirculating these notes is a more environmentally friendly option compared to issuing new notes just to meet the festive gifting demand, said MAS.
Issuing new notes generates unnecessary carbon missions and wastes resources.
Previously, the central bank announced that they will cease the issuance of good-as-new S$2 notes for the upcoming Chinese New Year.
Instead, they encouraged the public to use Fit notes or e-angbaos. This will lessen the environmental impact of printing new notes annually.
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Featured image adapted from DBS.
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