October 24, 2003

$20 Bill and Self-Checkouts

The new $20 bill is having trouble at some checkouts, doing fine at others.

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New $20 bills bringing change(s)
Some machines still lack software update to process currency

By Heather Draper, Rocky Mountain News
October 24, 2003

The new $20 bills have several features to thwart counterfeiters; unfortunately those features are also vexing King Soopers' automated check-out counters and some other vending machines that read currencies.

The problem: The machines don't have the computer software update needed to read the new currency, said Dave Savage, King Soopers vice president of operations.


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"At this point, we don't have them converted at our stores," Savage said. "It will probably take about 30 days to get them all switched over."

King Soopers has put signs up at the automated check-outs, asking customers to bring the new bills to an attendant to be exchanged for old ones, which the machine can read.

The Isle of Capri Casino in Black Hawk said that more than 80 percent of its slot machines have been upgraded for the new bills.

"We will be 100 percent in the very near future," said Robert Greyer, director of casino operations. "Because of all the new (bill) series released recently, we have it down to a science - this transition was pretty smooth."

Ticket machines in the Bay Area Rapid Transit district in San Francisco couldn't recognize the bills at first, but the agency has since installed new machines that can read them.

Denver's Regional Transportation District, however, has weathered the change well, said spokesman Scott Reed. "Our fare boxes are OK, and we're putting a software fix on our light-rail lines," he said.

The new multicolored bill, released Oct. 9 by the Federal Reserve, features a watermark that can seen from both sides of the bill when held up to the light, a plastic security thread that reads "USA TWENTY," and color-shifting ink, so the "20" in the lower-right corner of the face of the bill changes from copper to green when tilted.

Any problems with the new bill come despite the Bureau of Engraving and Printing's best efforts.

The bureau began "the new $20" education campaign more than a year ago, first working with the manufacturers of currency-accepting machines, said BEP spokeswoman Dawn Haley.

"We actually learned from the 1996 and 1998 mistakes . . . we didn't reach out enough to transit authorities and others," Haley said.

This time, the bureau sent out "thousands of e-mails" to gaming industries, transit authorities and others "to let them know the new $20 is coming out, so get ready for it," she said.

The BEP has called the new $20 "the most secure U.S. currency ever," needed because digital technology has made counterfeiting easier and cheaper. In 1995, less than 1 percent of counterfeit notes detected in the United States were digitally produced. By 2002, that number had grown to nearly 40 percent, according to the U.S. Secret Service.

New designs for the $50 and $100 notes are scheduled for introduction in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

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Note: KIS provides currency acceptors which handle the new $20 bill.

If you are interested please contact
info at gokis.net

Posted by Craig at October 24, 2003 06:50 PM