BoJ to Stage Public Seminars on New Bank Note

The Bank of Jamaica (BoJ) is set to issue the new $5,000 note into general circulation on September 24, and will be staging a series of seminars to assist in sensitising financial sector stakeholders and the wider public on the note’s new features.
The seminars will be held in Kingston, Montego Bay and Mandeville, beginning Wednesday (September 16), ahead of the scheduled issue date.
This note, which bears the image of late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Hugh Lawson Shearer, will be the newest issued since the $1,000, which bears the image of another late former Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Michael Manley, was released into circulation in April 2000.
Head of the BoJ’s Currency Department, Norbert Bryan, told JIS News that the three seminars form part of a multi-pronged strategy to introduce the note.
He explained that each seminar would be divided into two sessions, one private, targetting commercial banks, the police and customs officers, with the other focussing on the wider public.
The seminars kick off on September 16 with two sessions at the BoJ auditorium in downtown Kingston, at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Montego Bay St. James will host the second round on September 18 at the Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort, also with two sessions, scheduled for the same times. The final seminar will be held on September 21 with one session at the Golf View Hotel in Mandeville Manchester at 2:00 p.m.
Mr. Bryan informed that admission to all three seminars is free. “We are specifically inviting large volume cash handlers. Bill payment (agencies), utility companies, anybody who believes that they handle a fair amount of cash, in addition to members of the general public,” he outlined.
“We will be walking participants through the main security features of the note. We want to introduce to them and show them the critical features to look for (in distinguishing genuine notes). We want to show them how a simple device, like the UV (Ultra Violet) lamp can assist them in authenticating the note, as well as how to use your fingers, for example, to feel the note. So, it’s just to empower people… to protect themselves and their organisations,” Mr. Bryan pointed out.
Mr. Bryan disclosed that several other initiatives to complement the seminars will be pursued. He pointed out that the BoJ will be staging special ongoing training and sensitisation sessions for institutions. While these have not yet commenced for the $5,000, they have been ongoing in the case of the other notes in circulation.
He informed that the public and private seminars, and training sessions for the $5,000 would be complemented by posters and pamphlets to be circulated.
“We will be able to give the public soft and hard copies, so persons will have reference material and you can check the Bank of Jamaica website as soon as we mount it with all the details. Companies with special needs can contact the Bank of Jamaica’s Currency Department or the Public Relations Department, and we will try to address the needs of the specific institutions,” he said.
Following the seminars and the training sessions, Mr. Bryan said the BoJ expects that all stakeholders will be fully apprised of the features of the $5,000 note and will be better able to protect themselves against counterfeiters.