The Express team visited the following banks for Friday’s picture: SBI Althara Junction, Vellayamabalam; Federal Bank, Sasthamangalam; Canara Bank, Sasthamangalam; State Bank of Travancore, Kowdiar; Indian Overseas Bank, Sasthamangalam; and SBI, Sasthamangalam.
A majority of the banks in Thiruvananthapuram had sufficient cash to honour the RBI limit of Rs 24,000 per week. No customers were turned away for shortage of currency. However, getting the denomination of one’s choice was difficult with only Rs 2,000s available.
There was considerable rush at the SBI Althara Junction but elsewhere officials said the rush tended to come down by the end of banking hours.
While only one bank (State Bank of Travancore, Kowdiar) reported having notes of all denominations, all others said 80 per cent of the payments were in the form of `2000 notes. The much-wanted new `500 note has not been seen much.
Most of the customers seen at the banks were there to withdraw money. The numbers coming in to deposit money have come down drastically since Nov. 9. Banks advise customers to opt for online transfer of funds if the amount exceeds the withdrawal limit.
“There are customers who may have only one savings bank account and the amount needed may exceed `24,000 a week. In such cases, we tell them to transfer the amount online to the beneficiary’s account. For online fund transfer methods such as NEFT and RTGS, there is no upper limit,” said an official.