The days of opportunistic resellers overcharging for the exchange of the new IDR75K (US$5.04) bills are pretty much over, as the somewhat limited special edition note is now available at all Indonesian banks at no extra charge.
Bank Indonesia (BI) launched the IDR75K bill to celebrate Indonesia’s 75th anniversary on Aug. 17. At first, the bill exchange program was limited to local branch offices of the central bank before it was made available at five state-owned banks.
Starting today, private banks have entered the game and the IDR75K bill can be ordered at all Indonesian banks. Those interested can put in an order at their local bank, which will then order the bills from BI in batches comprising a minimum of 17 orders.
“They can then collect the IDR75K bill from said local bank,” BI spokesperson Onny Widjarnako said in a press release yesterday.
Each citizen with a valid KTP (ID card) is entitled to one IDR75K bill.
The widespread availability of the bill certainly spells doom for its resellers. Soon after it was released, many sought to profit by selling the bill at marked up prices. While most were reasonable by charging in the region of IDR100K, some really took things too far by charging up to IDR50 million for one bill on online marketplaces.
Overzealous resellers presumably wanted to capitalize on people’s FOMO, but there really should be enough to go around as BI is releasing 75 million pieces of the bill in total. We doubt there are even that many people who care enough about getting their hands on the bill in the first place.
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