U.S. dollars BII style

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