GT Bank Clarifies Panic-Inducing Message About Non-Acceptance of 20 and 50 Banknotes

The Guarantee Trust Bank, GT Bank has clarified that a text it sent to customers announcing it would no longer accept 20 and 50 notes from 31st August is not in respect of the cedi but the British Pound sterling.

In an update the bank apologized to customers who had become confused over the earlier announcement.

“We wish to clarify an earlier SMS that was sent today in reference to the discontinuation of the acceptance of the 20 and 50 paper notes. The currency in question is the British Pound (GBP) and not the Ghana cedi,” the bank said.

The earlier announcement on August 9, 2022, had caused panic among the bank’s customers.

The message read: “Dear Customer, Effective August 31, 2022, the Bank will no longer accept the 20 and 50 paper notes,” the SMS read.

It further called on customers to use a toll-free number for further enquires which many customers said was not getting through, hence the panic.

Meanwhile, the reason for the discontinuance of the £50 and £20 notes is that the Bank of England will be withdrawing legal tender status of some paper notes after 30 September 2022.

The two notes are being replaced with polymer versions with other notes already printed in polymer since last year.

While the majority of paper £20 and £50 banknotes in circulation have been replaced with new polymer versions, there are still over £6 billion worth of paper £20 featuring the economist Adam Smith, and over £8 billion worth of paper £50 banknotes featuring the engineers Boulton and Watt, in circulation.