One of the way of saving money is not to receive counterfeit banknotes ( ‘fake money’ ). Because you cannot use it otherwise you will be in prison. So today we will tell you how to identify the counterfeit banknote.

What is Counterfeit Banknote?

Counterfeit banknotes are reproduction of the real banknotes using materials of low quality but appear similar to the genuine with intent to deceive member of the public.

Counterfeit banknotes have no value but it is possible that they may be used and may escape detection for some time.Thus, protect yourself and always check your banknotes when you receive them.

Detecting a Counterfeit Banknote

All counterfeits of modern banknotes can be recognized without too much difficulty. The differences can be seen upon closer examination by applying the “FEEL , LOOK, TILT and CHECK” Principle.

Counterfeit Detection: Feel

Security Features	Genuine	Counterfeit
Feel the quality of paper	The genuine banknote is usually printed on very high quality paper and manufactured from cotton. It has a unique feel, crisp sound and slightly rough in the heavily printed areas.	The paper used for making the counterfeit notes appears to be poor quality,most common commercial type of paper.
Feel the Intaglio Printing	The intaglio print is a raised printing effect produced by applying layers of tactile inks on various parts of the front and reverse sides of the notes	The counterfeit banknote does not have feeling the raised printing.

Counterfeit Detection: Look

Security Features	Genuine	Counterfeit
Look at the banknote and hold it up to the light	The genuine banknote carry a watermark portrait, security thread and perfect see through features . A watermark portrait of Yang DiPertuan Agong has three dimensional effect and appears soft and shady without sharp outlines portrait. At the base of watermark a denomination number is clearly visible. The security thread will always looked embedded in the paper. The hibiscus flower on the obverse will register perfectly with the same flower on the reverse of the banknote.	The watermark in the counterfeit is not visible. If any, it can be appears like a drawing. The security thread is simulated and rather blurs, and can be easily scrapped off. The see through features does not perfectly registered with the pattern on the reverse side of the banknote.
Look under magnifying glass	You can see micro lettering on observe and reverse sides of all banknotes. The lettering on a genuine banknote should be sharp and not blurred.	The micro lettering of the words ‘BANKNEGARA MALAYSIA’, ‘BNM’ and banknotes denomination i.e. RM1, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100 on the banknote are not present, only dots are printed to simulate this features.
Look ultra-violet light	Invisible fluorescent elements representing various elements of the background on the obverse and reverse will fluoresce in different colours. Various elements are captured under UV light such as invisible fibres and phosphorescence square.	Under UV light the invisible fibres and phosphorescence square are completely missing in the counterfeit note. The paper of the counterfeit is UV bright, meaning that it glows more than genuine banknote paper.

Counterfeit Detection: Tilt

LEAD feature (incorporated in RM10, RM50 and RM100)

You can see the iridescent stripe shines under a bright light and showing the banknote denomination and the name of BNM when the view angle is shifted.

Lead feature is very difficult to counterfeit. Normally the shines of the LEAD cannot be seen. Some counterfeiters will attempt to simulate it by using a plain shiny foil.

PEAK feature

When changing the angle of view by shifting the banknote, a hidden image of denomination number i.e. 50 will be revealed in the centre of the PEAK square.

There is no latent image of denomination in the PEAK feature or some simulation of image has been attempted.

Counterfeit Detection: Check

Security Features

Various security features have been incorporated into the Malaysia Ringgit banknote. It is important for you to be aware of some of these security features and be able to distinguish between genuine and counterfeit notes which are completely worthless.

Level	Examination	Security Features
Level I : Public	Human Sense	Watermark Portrait Security Thread LEAD Feature PEAK Feature Perfect See Through Intaglio Print
Level II : Cash Handler	Human Sense & Equipments	All the first level features Security Fiber Fluorescent Elements Micro Lettering Fluorescent Square

What Do You Do If You Receive a Counterfeit Banknote?

Notify the police immediately if you have received counterfeit banknotes. Using or returning counterfeit banknotes is just as illegal as manufacturing it. Counterfeit banknotes are not eligible for replacement!

Follow these steps

Delay the person (passer) who gives you the counterfeit banknotes if possible and observe the passer’s description, as well as that of his/her companion if any, and the license numbers of any vehicles used by them
Do not write on, cut or re-circulate the counterfeit currency
Handle the currency as little as possible (e.g. you can put it in an envelope or plastic cover). Record on a separate sheet of paper all the details about how you got the currency, who gave it to you, where and when you got it
Take the counterfeit currency to the nearest police station and surrender the counterfeit currency to them after lodging a police report

Penal Code
Section 489 Penal Code (Offence Relating to Currency Matter)

Subject	Type of Offence	Whether the police may ordinarily arrest without warrant or not	Penalty imposed
489A	Forging or counterfeiting currency notes or banknotes	May arrest without warrant	Imprisonment for 20 years and fine
489B	Using as genuine forged or counterfeiting currency or banknotes	- do -	Imprisonment for 20 years and fine
489C	Possession of forged or counterfeiting currency notes or banknotes	- do -	Imprisonment for 10 years
489D	Making or possession of instrument or materials for forging or counterfeiting currency notes or banknotes	- do -	Imprisonment for 20 years and fine

We hope after reading our today information, you can easily identify the counterfeit banknote and in case you received it, you know how to handle it.

Service Tax Chargeable When Credit Cards and Charge Cards are Issued or Renewed

Referral url : http://abm.org.my/Service_Tax_Chargeable_When_Credit_Cards_and_Charge_Cards_are_Issued_or_Renewed.aspx

The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) has been extended a copy of the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Finance following from the announcement in respect of the imposition of a service tax of RM50 a year on each principal credit card and charge card and a service tax of RM25 a year on each supplementary card effective 1 January 2010 as announced in the 2010 Budget Speech. Having read and discussed the same with its member banks as well as other card issuers quickly, ABM would like to apprise cardholders as follows:-

1. The service tax will be collected by banks and other card issuers from credit and charge cardholders and paid to the Director General of Customs and Excise. In this respect, the amount of service tax payable will be set out in the cardholders’ monthly statement separately.

2. Service tax becomes chargeable at the time when the credit card or charge card is issued, on the anniversary date or upon renewal. The following are examples on when service tax would be chargeable:-

Example 1: Case of a new credit card or charge card issued which is valid for 1 year

Say, a credit card or charge card is issued to a new cardholder on 10 January 2010 with a validity period of 1 year expiring on 9 January 2011. A service tax of RM50 would be chargeable on 10 January 2010, the date of issue of the card.

Why don’t get a debit card, it’s free from service tax.

Example 2: Case of a new credit card or charge card issued which is valid for 5 years

Say, a credit card or charge card is issued to a new cardholder on 8 March 2010 with a validity period of 5 years expiring on 7 March 2015. A service tax of RM50 would be chargeable on 8 March 2010, the date of issue of the card and on every subsequent anniversary date, i.e. 8 March 2011, 8 March 2012, 8 March 2013 and 8 March 2014.

Example 3: Case of existing credit card or charge card which is valid for 5 years

Say, an existing cardholder has a card that was issued to him on 18 May 2008 with a validity period of 5 years expiring on 17 May 2013. No service tax would be chargeable on its anniversary date i.e.18 May 2009 in view of the fact that imposition of service tax will only be effective 1 January 2010. A service tax of RM50 will however be chargeable respectively on 18 May 2010, 18 May 2011 and 18 May 2012.

3. The following cards do not fall under the purview of the imposition of service tax :-

Debit cards
Petrol cards (cards issued by petrol companies such as FleetCard and SmartPay)
Closed community charge cards used at work places, schools and clubs only
Loyalty cards (such as Bonus Link)
E-money (such as Touch n’ Go)

4. Service tax will not be charged for replacement cards issued in connection to lost or spoilt cards or fraud.

5. In the event a credit card or charge card is upgraded (such as in the case of a Classic card to a Gold card) or downgraded (such as in the case of a Gold card to a Classic card) or converted (such as in the case of an Islamic card to a conventional card, or a co-branded card to a generic card, or vice versa) or reinstated (such as in the case of a cancelled card), service tax will be charged in respect of the new cards issued unless the anniversary dates of the previous and the new cards are the same.

Banks and other card issuers are allowed to enter into arrangements where cardholders may apply redemption/reward points or rebates they earn through using their cards for the payment of the service tax.

Member banks and other card issuers will be contacting their cardholders in respect of the imposition of the service tax. For any general enquiries on the service tax on credit or charge cards, please contact the toll-free hotlineABMConnect at 1-300-88-9980 from Monday to Friday or email to [email protected].

List of Banks’ Dedicated Lines for Customer Services

Affin Bank Bhd	1-800-88-3883
Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd	03 – 5516 9988
AmBank (M) Bhd	1-300-80-8888
CIMB Bank Bhd	1-300-88-0900
Citibank Bhd	03 – 2383 0000
EON Bank Bhd	03 – 2616 1133
Hong Leong Bank Bhd	03 – 7626 8899
HSBC Bank (M) Bhd	1-300-88-1388
Maybank	1-300-88-6688
OCBC Bank (M) Bhd	1-300-88-5000
Public Bank Bhd	1-800-88-3318
RHB Bank Bhd	1-800-88-4663
Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd	1-300-88-8888
United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd	03 – 2612 8121

Category Archives: Banking & Finance

Identifying Counterfeit Banknote

Service Tax Chargeable When Credit Cards and Charge Cards are Issued or Renewed

Service Tax Chargeable When Credit Cards and Charge Cards are Issued or Renewed