SBP fresh currency notes service 8877 receives big response      

KARACHI: SMS service launched by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) for issuance of fresh notes on the eve of Eid-ul-Fitr gets huge response from the general public.

The SBP appreciates the interest shown by the general public in its 8877 SMS service for getting fresh notes. The service was launched on May 31, 2018 has attracted a booking of around 2.3 million people only in four days.

This year, the arrangement has been made at 1535 branches in 132 cities as compared to 1018 branches nominated in 120 cities in last Ramadan-ul-Mubarak of 2017.

The total booking limit has been increased to 2.7 million customers against 1.8 million customers last year. The total capacity of this system is constrained by the number of customers that branches can accommodate on each day and the store of fresh notes available with SBP BSC which is also linked to the printing capacity.

At present, more than 85 percent bookings have been issued to members of general public as booking of this service is available 24/7 hours. It is expected that the system will reach full limit in the next couple of days.

Accordingly, booking would stand closed once the targeted figure of 2.7 million is achieved.

Bookings will be gradually closed in those cities where branches will reach their full capacity utilization. However, the issuance of fresh notes against the already issued booking codes will continue till the last day of the service June 14, 2018 subject to code's validity.

The status of all the branches where booking is still available is continuously updated at the State Bank and PBA websites.

The State Bank requests general public to check the branch status before sending messages to avoid charges and inconvenience.

It would be pertinent to mention that apart from this SMS service, banks may continue to provide fresh notes to their customers from their branches and ATMs as sufficient quantity is being provided to them by State Bank.