OREANDA-NEWS. February 12, 2014. During January, Citadele Bank’s Encashment Service delivered 45.1 tonnes of lats coins to the Bank of Latvia – an amount that is equal to nine lorry loads.

The largest amount of lats coins was delivered by the encashment specialists at the beginning of the month, because during the first two weeks of the year, until January 14, both currencies were in circulation. People could pay for goods and services in lats and euros, but change could only be given in euros. Accordingly, retailers and service providers accumulated large amounts of lats which had to be transferred to a bank account.

“In late December and early January, Citadele Encashment Service worked on the basis of a special regime to ensure that lats coins and banknotes could be quickly collected and transferred to bank accounts,” says Citadele Bank Member of the Board Kaspars Cikmacs. “Additional workers were hired, and there were special rooms to count up the money. We can conclude that the lats encashment project is drawing to a close, and we have returned to our everyday regime. Even during the busiest days in January, Citadele Encashment Service ensured a high level of quality in the services which it provided, transferring money to accounts no later than on the next working day. According to the Bank of Latvia, several hundred tonnes of lats are still in circulation. Most are one and two santims coins, and it is likely that residents will hold on to them.”

During January, the encashment specialists collected not just lats, but also euros. The euro is now Latvia’s official currency.

“Residents and entrepreneurs have noticed that euro coins are much heavier than lats coins,” says Cikmacs. “People feel that in their pocketbooks, and entrepreneurs encounter the situation when collecting cash. The largest difference is between the 50 euro cent coin and the 50 santims coin – 7.8 grams, as opposed to 3.5 grams, or two times more. If there is a small amount of money, that may not be noticed, but for companies which collect cash, the increase in weight is quite substantial. We would ask companies to use Citadele encashment services so as to ensure convenience and security in transferring cash to the bank and then to their bank accounts. This means that staff does not have to go to the bank to deposit cash.”

Citadele Bank Encashment Services is one of the leading providers of encashment services in Latvia, offering services to many entrepreneurs, including clients of other banks. The money that is part of the encashment process is insured. Deliveries to and from the bank are conducted by professionally trained and armed employees. Citadele has encashment units not just in Riga, but also in Ventspils, Liepaja, Valmiera, Jekabpils, and Daugavpils.”

Entrepreneurs can apply for euro encashment services by writing to inkasacija@citadele.lv, ringing the telephone number +371-6710-7303, or by submitting an application on the Citadele homepage, www.citadele.lv.