Karachi (Staff Report): The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has launched SMS service for issuance of fresh currency notes to the general public through 1702 e-branches and 16 SBP BSC offices in 142 cities across the country.
According to a statement issued by the central bank, the fresh currency notes will be available from designated commercial bank branches called “ebranches” and the sixteen field offices of SBP BSC. The booking of the service has been commenced from 19th May, 2019, while issuance of fresh currency through mobile SMS service will start from 20th May and continue till May 31st May.
The service will be provided through 1702 e-branches & 16 SBP BSC offices in 142 cities across Pakistan to ensure maximum geographical coverage. The charges for the service are Rs. 1.50/- plus tax, per SMS.
The branch IDs of designated e-branches are available at SBP website https://www.sbp.org.pk, PBA website https://www.pakistanbanks.org, commercial banks websites and will also be displayed prominently outside designated e-branches. It may be noted that the branch ID for e-branch is different from the existing branch/SWIFT code of banks.
Under this facility, a person may send an SMS message comprising his/her 13 digits CNIC/Smart card number along with the desired e-branch ID [e.g. 32453-3454432-1(space)KHI001] to short code 8877.
In return, the person will receive an SMS containing redemption code, e-branch address and the code validity period. Redemption code received by the customer will be valid for two (02) working days as per the mentioned dates in the SMS. The customer may then approach the concerned e-branch along with his/her original CNIC/Smart card, a photocopy of the CNIC/Smart card and transaction code received from 8877 to obtain fresh currency notes. An individual can obtain three (03) packets of
Rs.10/- and one (01) packet each of Rs. 50/- & Rs. 100/-.
It is also notified that each CNIC/Smart card number or mobile phone number can only be used once.
No transaction code will be issued to the sender in case he/she sends the same CNIC/Smart card number from different mobile numbers or sends different CNIC/Smart card numbers from same mobile number during the service.
Further, the system shall provide the fresh currency notes on first come first serve basis and new bookings shall be closed once the system reaches its capacity.