"We need to catch it": banks talk about the situation with cash currency

The day before, information appeared in Telegram channels that Russian banks had almost completely run out of new-style dollars. Against the backdrop of sanctions and the start of the holiday season, banknotes with the updated design have become a rarity, and some exchange offices have allegedly not seen them for years. However, the banks' press services deny the existence of a problem and claim that there is no shortage of any kind of currency. What is actually happening and what Russians should prepare for is in the MK article.

Let us recall that there are actually two designs of dollar banknotes in circulation around the world at the moment. The older one was issued from 1996 to 2006. Dollars of this type are sometimes also called "white" due to the prevalence of this color in their design. The Federal Reserve System (the Fed is the central bank and legal emission center of the United States - "MK" ) began printing the updated design of American banknotes in 2004. The design of these banknotes uses red, orange, yellow, blue, purple colors, but they are often called "blue" by the people, since the $100 bill has a blue security stripe in the center.

And although both versions of American banknotes are in circulation in the States on completely legal grounds, they have been carefully distinguished throughout the world in the last two years. The fact is that the "white" dollars were issued not only before the noticeable changes in design, but also have less and more outdated protection against counterfeiting, which experienced counterfeiters have learned to overcome. Experts assume that there is a large volume of counterfeit banknotes of this type in circulation, which cannot be locally detected by hardware during exchange. And exchange offices abroad do not want to take on the risks of accepting counterfeits and therefore independently limit the circulation of such banknotes.

This problem was noticed by citizens traveling abroad last year, and tour operators warned Russians about it, so there is even a risk of a shortage of “new” dollars in domestic exchange offices, especially since the impact of additional restrictions is still felt inside Russia. “New-style dollars are not imported into the country, so banks only trade in those that citizens hand over, and they hand over little of them,” explains Tatyana Belyanchikova, associate professor of the Department of World Financial Markets and Fintech at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics. “The situation is complicated by the fact that Russian bank cards of international payment systems (which citizens still have) do not work abroad, and you have to take cash with you on foreign trips, like in the old days. And most tourist and especially resort destinations also have a bad attitude towards old-style dollars: in some cases, they can be accepted at a reduced rate or not accepted at all.”

The day before, messages appeared in Telegram channels that “new” dollars had almost disappeared from domestic exchange offices. Curiously, the press services of the banks that own these exchange offices deny a shortage of new dollar bills. To check who is right, MK decided to visit several branches of various banks and find out what is really going on.

"No new dollars were brought in for exchange this morning, so there aren't any yet. In general, their availability depends on what bills were handed in the day before. You have to catch them. As soon as new dollars are brought in, they are immediately taken apart," said an employee of the largest state bank in the branch on Vavilov Street. However, the answers were more cheerful in other places. "How much do you need? We only have $1,600 of "new" dollars so far: I can give you everything," said a cashier at the branch of the second largest state bank in the branch on Leninsky Prospekt. The exchange rate at which dollars are sold to the population is also of great importance. In exchange offices where the dollar is expensive, you can buy "new" currency even for a large sum. "There are "new" dollars, you can buy $3,000, but our rate is higher than 87 rubles, will you take them?" asked a cashier at a small bank whose branch is located in a shopping center near the central administrative district of the capital.

It is obvious that there is no shortage of “new” dollars, especially for those who are ready to buy them at a higher rate. For those who are going abroad, the following advice can be given. “First, plan your currency exchange in advance,” recommends investment adviser Yulia Kuznetsova. “If you need dollars, it is worth buying them without putting it off until the last minute.” Second, you can use alternative payment methods: consider withdrawing money from bank cards in countries where they are accepted. This will reduce the need for cash dollars. Third, you can consider buying other currencies. If your destination country uses the euro or another currency, it may make sense to buy it, avoiding problems with the dollar.