What you Need to Exchange Current 1,000 Banknotes for New Currency

After the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) issued a notice that Kenyans have until October 2019 to exchange the current 1,000 banknotes with the new generational currency, there erupted panic and a lot of misinformation concerning the exchange process.

The announcement came as a shock to most Kenyans, especially politicians and many business persons, who have billions of shillings in 1,000 denominations stored within their houses.

Following confusion and panic amongst Kenyans, the CBK has come out to clarify the requirements for you to exchange the old currency with the new one.

“All ‘know your customer’ (KYC) rules will apply as normal when depositing money for bank customers” CBK Governor Patrick Njoroge said.

Here are the rules to exchanging the currencies:

Less than 1 Million Shillings

Those who want to exchange the old notes for a value of less than 1 million shillings can do so at their bank branches.

Additionally, those without bank accounts can exchange at any branch of any bank, or even at the CBK. They will need to have official identification.

Between 1 Million and 5 Million Shillings

People who want to exchange amounts between 1 Million shillings and 5 Million shillings will need to go to their own banks.

Those who do not have bank accounts and want to exchange this amount will need to contact the CBK.

The CBK has said that it will then endorse them and they can go to a designated bank branch.

Above 5 Million Shillings

For those who want to exchange amounts above 5 million shillings, they will need to contact the CBK.

However, the CBK has said that it has analyzed these and found that these are very few.

Hours later, though, the CBK clarified that it is only those with such amounts and without a bank account who will have to contact the Central Bank.

The CBK made the decision to clarify the requirements for exchange after taking into account the experience of demonetization in India and learning from its merits and demerits.

Read Also: Current 1,000 Banknotes to Become Useless By October