Poe criticizes BSP’s notice on possible counterfeit money at ATMs

Senator Grace Poe said Thursday that the review of counterfeit money possibly issued by automated teller machines (ATMs) should not be passed on to the public.

Poe made the statement after the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) issued a notice that the public should check the money they can get from ATMs if counterfeit money can be leaked.

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“Should a banknote dispensed by an ATM be suspected as a counterfeit, the holder is advised to immediately report it to the bank that owns the machine,” BSP said.

“The bank will then conduct a thorough investigation to verify whether the banknote was indeed dispensed by the bank’s ATM,” it added.

But Poe, chairman of Senate banks, financial institutions, and currencies, commented on why counterfeit money can slip through bank machines.

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“The burden of distinguishing counterfeit bills emanating from banks from genuine ones should not be placed on depositors. ATMs dispensing fake bills is unacceptable and must have no place in the banking system,” the senator said.

Poe added that banks should always ensure that they have state-of-the-art defenses against potential security breaches.

“It is our financial institutions that carry the responsibility to steadfastly guard against vulnerabilities and keenly upgrade their systems amidst the changing times to keep our people’s unflinching trust in the banking industry,” she said.

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Poe criticizes BSP’s notice on possible counterfeit money at ATMs

In the BSP notice they released recently, they also advised how to detect counterfeit money.

This is through a “feel, look, tilt” approach to avoid getting counterfeit money.

In the event of obtaining counterfeit money at an ATM, the customer must immediately notify the bank that covers the said machine.

When it reaches the bank’s management, it should investigate if the counterfeit money was actually taken from the ATM.

After the customer’s complaint is verified, the bank will replace the counterfeit money.

The BSP further said that all banks should implement the system to prevent and solve the problem of counterfeit money.

They also assured the public that banks do what they need to do about such matters.

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