Desmond banknotes rejected by machines

As Canada’s cash-handling machines – about half a million in total – are updated to handle the recently released vertical $10 note, some machines still without the new software are rejecting the bill honouring Viola Desmond.

The owner of a Nova Scotia-based vending-machine supplier told Colin Perkel, of the Canadian Press, his 125 units won’t accept the new bills without the software update, which costs about $10 each (excluding driving and labour time).

“It’s time and money,” Baxter told Perkel earlier this year. “Each time they change them, we need to upgrade.”

Meanwhile, a manager with Metrolinx said the Toronto-based regional transit agency was aware the new note could cause problems with the machines used to purchase tickets for public transit. Most of the agency’s machines have been updated, Anne Marie Aikins, of Metrolinx, told Perkel, adding: “It’s not a huge deal. It’s just a matter of getting to them.”

A spokeswoman for the Bank of Canada told Perkel she suggests people “try using the previous regular circulating note” if the new $10 note isn’t accepted by a cash-handling machine.

The Bank of Canada previously said it was working with equipment makers, which it provided with test notes, to lessen the impact of the note’s launch. The first issue from the bank’s as-of-yet unnamed eighth series, the new $10 note uses the same material and machine-readable features as the previous series’ notes.

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