Fresh-cash services in full blossom

December 10, 2018 | 21:09

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As the Lunar New Year approaches, services to switch cash to crispy new notes are in bloom.

It is customary to give out small cash gifts to children in Vietnam for the Lunar New Year

The cyberspace is awash with vendors offering to switch wrinkled and old VND bills to new ones for commission. Customers are mainly looking to exchange VND10,000 and 20,000 bills ($0.4, $0.8).

“While the goods in question are VND bills, this is no different from online shopping. You only need to provide the number of bills you want to order and the vendor will ship your order in 2-3 days, it is very convenient,” Nhu Uyen from the central city of Danang told VIR.

In addition to VND bills, USD bills, especially $2 bills, are also sought after. Accordingly, a number of vendors offer $2 bills with consecutive serial numbers.

Vendors offer wholesale and retail prices, depending on the size of the order. Specifically, customers who order more than VND20 million ($869) can receive wholesale price. “Customers switching more than VND20 million ($869) pay an added rate of 4 per cent, while customers switching less than VND20 million pay 6 per cent,” a vendor said.

Most vendors claim that their new bills come directly from banks and have never been in circulation and have consecutive serial numbers.

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) has not issued new bills since 2013. The SBV also stated that not issuing new bills for the 2018 Lunar New Year helped the bank save VND280 billion ($12.2 million).

At present, there is no information about issuing fresh bills for the 2019 Lunar New Year.

By Van Anh

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