Raiffeisen ATMs wake up to RON

Seven months after the RON was put into circulation, Raiffeisen Bank adapted its first 19 cash dispensers in Bucharest to issue the new banknotes. The bank operates a network of over 780 ATMs. The next stage of the process entails the conversion of 100 cash dispensers every month. This could mean that Raiffeisen Bank, the third largest bank on the market, might end the process of converting the ATMs to the new currency by the end of September 2006. BRD, the second biggest player in the system, plans to adapt its whole network by June 30. The banks tried to put off dealing with the costs of modifying the ATMs for as long as they could, especially due to their concern that they would not be able to constantly feed the machines with new currency, given that the NBR”s programme relies on slowly feeding the market with RON. It was precisely these money-feeding problems that, in some cases, led ATMs converted to the new currency to be changed back to work with the old currency. ZF