COVID-19 pandemic fuels increased demand for physical bills

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The COVID-19 pandemic has led to even more people shopping and spending time online.
But it's also created more demand for cash.
That's not only the case in South Korea but in major economies around the world.
Eum Ji-young has more.
A notice on the wall beside an ATM at a bank in Seoul encourages customers not to withdraw money in Korea's biggest banknote worth 50-thousand won, but to take out the smaller 10-thousand-won bill instead.
It's the same if you go to the teller.
"50-thousand-won bills are highly sought after. But because there's a limited supply, only a fraction of the demand is being met. We're providing 10-thousand-won bills instead."
The Bank of Korea says it's placed an order to print three times the number of 50-thousand won bills it did last year.
"Since the COVID-19 outbreak, economic uncertainties have increased, so there's been more demand for cash as a store of value. There are fewer business transactions, so the number of banknotes coming back into the central bank is quite low."
South Korea isn't the only country that has seen demand rise for large bills.
According to a survey conducted on about three-thousand people by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the amount of physical bills people held at home or elsewhere rose by about 88 percent in the pandemic.
Major economies including the U.S., the EU and Japan have seen demand for physical bills nearly double or even triple in some countries.
The EU has seen a 12-percent increase in currency circulated in bills worth 200 euros, and Japan's largest bills at 10-thousand yen accounted for 97 percent of the rise in the total currency circulation from May to August.
Eum Ji-young Arirang News.

2020-10-05, 12:00 (KST)

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