The Bank of Ghana's authority to manage the cedi sits in the Bank of Ghana Act, 2002 (Act 612) and the Currency Act, 1964 (Act 242). The rule is not new. What is new is that a video went around the country of people repairing torn notes with adhesive tape as a street business, and the central bank came out and named it. A taped note is unfit for circulation, which is why a trader will refuse it even when the pieces are all there under the tape.
The three states of a note your family will see
Almost every torn cedi note falls into one of these three. The first and the second have a path. The third is a loss.
- Dirty, bent, or worn, but whole: It still spends. The trader may grumble, but it is legal tender until the bank withdraws it. Hand it in with the family's next bank deposit and let the bank take it out of circulation.
- Torn, with more than half of the original note still in hand: Take it to a commercial bank for examination and replacement under the Bank of Ghana's procedures. Any commercial bank branch handles this; the family does not need to travel to the BoG head office in Accra.
- Less than half of the note, or a half with the serial number missing: The Bank of Ghana's statement does not promise replacement below the half-note mark. Treat it as a loss and move on. Keep it, do not burn it, but do not count on getting the money back.
The threshold the Bank of Ghana names is "more than half of the original banknote". That is the sentence to hold on to. It applies by surface, not by denomination. A torn 100-cedi note and a torn 10-cedi note go through the same door.
The swap at the bank
Nothing in the Bank of Ghana's statement makes the family bring the note anywhere unusual. The counter at the family's own bank in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi or anywhere else is the right place to start.
- Keep the pieces. If a note tore clean across, keep both halves. If a corner came off, keep the corner. The teller examines the whole note.
- Take the note to any commercial bank branch. The family's own branch is easiest; the teller already knows them.
- Ask the teller for the damaged-note examination. The note is checked against the Bank of Ghana's procedures. The teller may keep the note and process the replacement through BoG, or settle it at the counter depending on the branch's practice.
- Keep a note of the serial number before you hand it over. If the examination takes time, the serial is the paper trail.
That is the whole walk. The branch handles the examination against Bank of Ghana procedures, and the family's job ends at the counter.
Catch
The Bank of Ghana has not published a face-value guarantee in the 7 October statement. The release says the note is examined and replaced "under laid-down procedures", not that every qualifying note returns at full face value. Ask the teller what the family is being paid before the paperwork is signed, especially if the note is close to the half-note line.
The notes your family already taped
The Bank of Ghana did not say what happens to the notes already on the table with tape across the middle. Read the rule for what it says.
A taped note is unfit for circulation. That does not mean the money inside the tape disappears. It means the note cannot pass as payment and cannot be re-issued by the bank. If more than half of the original note is in the family's hand under the tape, the family still has a case to present at the commercial bank. The examination is on the paper, not on the tape.
If the tape is gentle, peel it off carefully before going to the bank. Peeling rips the fibres a second time. If the note is already fragile, leave the tape on. The teller can examine the note under it. If the tape has pulled a chunk of the note away with it when the family tries to remove it, stop. Take it as it is.
Do not tape any more. Do not glue, staple or re-join a note to make it look whole for the next trader. The Bank of Ghana is now asking the public to report persons who repair banknotes as a business to the central bank or the police. The person in your family is not that person; keep it that way by not sending home a strip of sellotape with the next envelope.
What to send home with the next transfer
A single line in the family WhatsApp group is enough.
Tip
"If any of the notes come torn, do not tape them. Take anything with more than half of the note still there to a commercial bank. They can swap it. The Bank of Ghana said this on 7 October."
For the ceremonial side of the same rule, which cedis your family may spray or arrange and which they may not, see the piece on money bouquets at Ghanaian weddings.
Corrections
None so far. If we get something wrong, the fix is dated here.