The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 41, October 14, 2007, Article 16

VENDING MACHINES REFUSE NEW SCOTTISH BANKNOTES

An article in The Scotsman reports that "The Bank of 
Scotland's new notes are proving a potential headache 
for anyone wanting to use them in a vending machine, 
including those at the Scottish Parliament. 

"The problems are largely due to delays in updating many 
vending machines to recognise the new notes. Some older 
and cheaper machines may never recognise the cash because 
they do not have enough memory to be reprogrammed with a 
new set of notes. 

"The striking new Bank of Scotland notes were introduced 
last month. They feature a metallic security thread, and 
the £20, £50 and £100 notes feature holograms and foil 
patches. They also have strengthened corners to help 
them last longer. 

"Nick Bate, managing director of VMC Limited, which makes 
the devices used in the Scottish Parliament, said: 'One 
of the issues for the cashless industry or any organisation 
accepting Scottish bank notes through an electronic validator, 
whether that's for car parking, ticketing, vending or catering 
functions is when new note designs are released it takes time 
for note validator manufacturers to update software. So, 
while there may have to be a short period of inconvenience, 
the onus lies with the banks to improve the awareness within 
the industry of new bank note releases.' 

"A spokesman for the Bank of Scotland said: 'We are sorry 
for any inconvenience caused. We've been working with 
manufacturers and suppliers of vending machines for about 
six months to make sure there are no problems processing 
the new banknotes. The response has been overwhelmingly 
positive. However, as with any notes launch, there will be 
isolated instances where machines aren't updated as quickly 
as we'd like. We're working with the suppliers in question 
to make sure the required software updates are installed 
quickly.'" 

To read the complete article, see:  Full Story

  Wayne Homren, Editor

	coinbooks.org Web

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