BANGKO Sentral ng Pilipinas will start issuing the new 100-piso banknotes with stronger mauve or violet color today to make it more distinct from the 1000-piso bill.
“This is in response to suggestions from the public to make it easier to distinguish from the 1000-piso banknote,” the bank regulator said in a statement over the weekend.
Compared with the color of the existing 100-piso banknote in circulation, the new 100-piso bill will have stronger mauve or violet color on the obverse and reverse sides. However, all the other features of the banknote will remain the same.
“The current 100-piso banknotes can still be used for daily transactions for payment of goods and services and will commingle with the new 100-piso banknotes with stronger mauve or violet color until supplies of the first version last. Henceforth, the BSP will be printing the 100-piso with stronger mauve or violet color,” it said.
Only the old banknote series (New Design Series, NDS), launched in 1985, will no longer be acceptable in daily transactions for payment of goods and services and can only be exchanged for New Generation Currency banknotes with authorized agent banks and the Bangko Sentral until Dec. 31 this year.
Bangko Sentral officials said people kept on complaining about the almost similar colors of the 100 and 1000-piso bills. But they said the bills’ other features could easily distinguish which is 100 and 1000.
Bangko Sentral Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. earlier said Americans are seldom confused of their bills because they examine them carefully and thoroughly during payments.
Senator Aquilino Pimentel had asked Bangko Sentral to explain why the P1000 and P100 banknotes were almost identical to each other.
Several complaints from the public were reported earlier due to the similarity between the two banknotes, both known as the New Generation Currency.