A private-sector employee went to a bank branch in Karwan Bazar in the capital to urgently send money home to cover a relative’s medical expenses. At the branch, customers must use a Cash Recycling Machine (CRM) for transactions involving deposits of less than Tk 100,000.

The private-sector employee, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said he inserted 100 of Tk 500 notes into the CRM to send Tk 50,000. The CRM rejected 36 of the notes because they had become too old. He had, however, withdrawn the notes from a branch of another nearby bank.

The incident is one example of how torn, damaged and worn-out banknotes circulating in the market are causing people considerable inconvenience.

Members of the public, businesses and bankers say a large proportion of the banknotes currently in circulation are very old.

Bangladesh Bank has failed to withdraw sufficient quantities of old notes and replace them with new ones in a timely manner. As a result, people have been forced to conduct transactions using these worn-out notes.