RESERVE BANK NOTES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21417, 8 March 1935, Page 12

RESERVE BANK NOTES

POSSIBILITY OF CONFUSION ACTION BY BANK OFFICERS' GUILD It is the opinion of tellers in city banks that there is a real danger to the public through the possibility of confusion between the £SO and 10s note issued by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. So far there are no £SO notes in circulation in Christchurch, but yesterday a note of each denomination was shown to a reporter by the head teller at one bank. The £SO note is of a carmine colour, and the 10s note is a light red. The notes are of exactly the same size and the designs, apart from the figures, are almost identical. The teller said that there was little danger of mistakes being made by the bank staff, as they were trained to recognise the notes by the figures; but elderly or shortsighted persons might easily confuse them, especially in a bad light. The danger would increase as the notes became crumpled and dirty with use. The latest issue of the journal of the Bank Officers' Guild states that at a recent meeting of the executive of the guild correspondence was considered, between the Governor of the Reserve Bank and the guild, on the similarity of the two notes. The guild had written to the Governor, suggesting that the system previously followed by the trading banks, of having distinctive and dissimilar colours for each denomination, should be followed by the Reserve Bank. A reply had been received from the Governor, and the guild had sent back a further statement, to which a reply was now being awaited. Tests Carried Out The possibility of confusion was proved recently by tests carried out by a writer in the Investors' Journal. The writer states that a man in the habit of lunching each day at a certain restaurant, and frequently paying the waitress in 10s notes, the other day handed her a new £SO note of the Reserve Bank, and she quite methodically handed over 8s 9d, cne correct change in her opinion, as sue took the £SO note to be a 10s note. She was very much amazed when she was told that she had handled a £SO note, and not a 10s note. In another test the writer was handed seven notes and was asked to state what the total amounted to. Special care was taken in counting and the answer was given £3 10s. As a matter of fact those seven notes represented a total of £53, for there were six 10s notes and one £SO note. The writer went through the notes twice and failed to detect the £SO note because of the similarity of colour. It was only when his attention was called to the higher denomination note that he realised how easy it would be to pass a £SO Reserve Bank note for a 10s Reserve Bank note.