Money madness<\/p>\n
The process of changing U.S. dollar notes into rupiah Medan,
\nNorth Sumatra, is absolutely bizarre.<\/p>\n
I frequently travel to Medan, and over the years, I've learned
\nthat $100 notes must be in mint condition to be accepted.<\/p>\n
When changing dollars, whether at an international bank, an
\nIndonesian bank or a money changer, the notes are examined one by
\none, front and back for any so-called defects, such as a crease,
\nwriting, tears or folds. If the notes have been kept in a wallet,
\nthey will surely be rejected or, at some money changers, an
\nappreciably lower rate of exchange will be offered.<\/p>\n
In order to be sure of getting the standard exchange rate,
\nbrand-new notes must be acquired and they must be kept flat and
\nin pristine condition, preferably in an envelope. Other
\ncurrencies, such as Malaysian ringgit and Singapore dollars, are
\nchanged without any scrutinization, even if they are old, torn or
\ncrumpled notes.<\/p>\n
However, this madness has developed further, and now money
\nchangers have frequent objections to serial numbers that start
\nwith a particular letter. I discovered this recently, when I had
\nwithdrawn brand-new sequential $100 dollar notes from an
\ninternational bank.<\/p>\n
I had held on to the notes for about two weeks, and when I
\ntried to change the notes at a money changer, I was told that I
\nwould have to accept a lower exchange rate for notes with a
\nserial number starting with CD. To make matters worse, the bank
\nwhere I obtained the notes refused to replace them with $100
\nnotes with a different serial number.<\/p>\n
Obviously, this is some form of corruption that may be
\npeculiar to Medan, but it is very disturbing that this \"madness\"
\nis even perpetuated by international banks. I would hope this
\nnonsense will be investigated by the appropriate government
\nagencies and then stamped out.
\n
\nMARTIN
\nMedan<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/money-madness-1447899208",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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