Bicentennial notes online application is now open

The second batch of bicentennial notes have been made available by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) today Monday (Sep 16) following a strong demand for the first release of two million notes. Applications for the new batch can be made online but only via MAS portal beginning Sep 16 until Oct 13.

According to the Central Bank in a media release, “If demand is very strong, MAS will try to allocate at least one note to every applicant in order to give all applicants an opportunity to obtain the note, with priority given to Pioneer and Merdeka Generation applicants.”

The successful applicants will be notified by Nov 3. They can then make an exchange for the notes at face value during a two-week period from early November.

“(Successful) applicants will be assured of obtaining the note during the exchange period and there is no need to rush to queue,” MAS authorities said.

The application is open to Singapore citizens and permanent residents only, and each person can apply for up to 10 notes.

Special S$20 notes

The notes were unveiled in June to commemorate Singapore’s bicentennial.

Long queues were seen at major banks on the first day of the launch, with many branches running out of the notes on the same day. Robust demand for the notes pushed some sellers to offer them on online marketplaces such as Carousell and eBay, for as much as S$988.

For the online application, each person will be required to indicate their NRIC/birth certificate number, as well as mobile number for verification and notification purposes.

Applicants will also need to select the number of notes to be exchanged, as well as their preferred bank and branch from any of the nine major retail banks:

DBS Bank Limited / POSB; OCBC Bank; United Overseas Bank Limited; Bank of China Limited; Citibank Singapore Limited; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited Singapore Branch; Maybank Singapore Limited; Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) Limited; and HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited. -/TISG