2012-09-03
On 3 September, the Cash Service started its operation at the Bank of Lithuania. It will formulate the country’s cash administration policy and will be responsible for its implementation. After establishing this unit and performing the structural reorganisation of the bank's cash vault network by the end of the year, preconditions will be created for a more effective performance of the cash management function, ensuring a smooth provision of cash services to the customers of the Bank of Lithuania and thus saving resources, which are currently spent for the implementation of this function.
The unit that will provide services to the Bank of Lithuania customers will perform the accounting of the country’s cash reserves, store and control them, organise their supplementation with banknotes and coins of good aesthetic appearance and sufficiently well protected against counterfeiting, regulate the quality of cash in circulation. This service will also investigate acceptability of currency and its genuineness, introduce cash features to banks and the public.
The new service, which will employ 70 staff members, consists of the Cash Department and two divisions – Methodology and Control Division and Cash Production Organisation and Investigation Division. The Cash Department will have three internal divisions: Vilnius Cash Management Division, Kaunas Cash Management Division and Technical Division.
Mr. Alis Jaramaitis, former Director of the Payment Systems Department of the Bank of Lithuania, was appointed as the Director of the Service.
The Service was established after reorganising the Cash Department and Kaunas and Klaipėda independent branches of the Bank of Lithuania. For some time, but no longer than by 31 December 2012, the cash servicing function will also be performed by the Klaipėda branch.
“By optimising cash management and concentrating this work in Vilnius and Kaunas, we will be able to control the country’s cash reserves more efficiently and cost-effectively, the expenses of the Bank of Lithuania currently dedicated to the provision of services to its customers will be reduced”, said Mr. Jaramaitis.
In the opinion of the Cash Service’s Director, the share of employees performing the functions of cash management, its security and maintenance grew unreasonably over many years within the structure of the Bank of Lithuania. This happened due to non-optimal allocation of duties and due to the fact that it was necessary to services cash vaults and cahier’s offices of the Bank of Lithuania located in three cities.
The Cash Service was established as part of the structural reform of the Bank of Lithuania, which aims at making the institution’s activity more efficient by consolidating the key functions in specialised services. The Supervision Service has already been operating since the beginning of the year, the Economics and Financial Stability Service commenced its activities in the beginning of May, while the Banking Service started its operation in the beginning of July.