U.S. dollars BII style

In 1997, the rupiah exchange rate was fluctuating against the U.S. dollar and many banks put their own regulations into effect to anticipate their customers saving or depositing U.S. dollars. At that time, BII promised its customers that the bank was the safest place to deposit U.S. dollars and that it did not collect miscellaneous fees for dollar accounts, a promise that lured many people, including myself. The condition has now changed as rupiah has become stable against the dollar.

On Sept. 6, when I wanted to deposit my dollars at BII's Plaza Senayan branch, I was surprised by the fact that the bank will only accept U.S. dollar notes based on the checking standards made by the bank itself. It is reasonable if the bank checks whether dollar notes are real money or not. The bank, however, does not accept dollar notes which are, among a host of criteria, folded, stamped, faded or crumpled.

The bank, finally, could accept only about 40 percent of the U.S. dollar banknotes I wanted to deposit. I even begged the bank to accept the remaining banknotes at a deduction, but to no avail. Fortunately, it was only a small amount of money that I wanted to deposit that day. Any customer wanting to deposit a large amount of money in U.S. dollars would end up dismayed and disappointed and would have to take home with him/her an equally large sum of U.S. dollar banknotes that failed to meet the criteria set by BII. One of the BII staffers sympathized with me and said that many customers had complained about this. I wonder whether BII treats a U.S. dollar banknote as if it were a historical painting or an antique crystal so that it should not be touched to prevent it from being spoiled or one only for display.

The money is legal tender and as such its form will be affected when it changes hands or goes into and out of wallets or purses. Even in its country of origin, the United States, it is relatively difficult to find U.S. dollar banknotes in good condition. If a teller receives U.S. dollar banknotes, he/she will check whether they are genuine or not and when they are, he/she will scratch them with a brown marking pen to indicate that they are genuine. U.S. dollar banknotes entering or leaving countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, etc. will also be stamped as a sign of control over them.

This means that it will be increasingly more difficult for people in Indonesia, especially BII customers, to get U.S. dollar banknotes that meet BII-set criteria. It would be wise, therefore, for BII customers or prospective customers to consider carefully whether they have chosen BII as the right place for their U.S. dollar deposits.

MITA NURANI

Jakarta