Vending machines having trouble with new “twenties”
Posted Jan 6, 2013 12:11:39 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Thousands of vending machines across Canada still can’t digest those new plastic $20 bills and operators are blaming the Bank of Canada.
Kim Lockie has not had a chance to upgrade 300 of his 1,200 machines in Fort McMurray, Alberta saying the Bank of Canada should have provided more lead time when it introduced the polymer 20’s in November.
Lockie is the vending industry’s point man for the conversion project, and estimates up to half of Canada’s 500,000 cash-handling machines have not been upgraded yet for the new currency.
He says the Bank of Canada should have worked more closely with the sector to make sure they were ready.
But a spokesman for the bank rejects the criticism, saying officials have worked closely with vendors since 2009, and provided manufacturers with test notes six months before the official release.
Jeremy Harrison says the bank also plans to provide a long lead time for the new $5 and $10 plastic notes being released later this year.
