Despite fears that soon after the introduction of the euro, Latvia’s euro coins with an image of Milda on them would disappear, 90% of EUR 1 coins in circulation 90 days after the introduction of the new currency have that image, Citadele Encashment Service has reported.
People had feared that the Latvian coins would soon be replaced with ones from other European countries, but that didn’t happen. The EUR 1 coins are also inscribed with the text “God Bless Latvia.”
Encashment Service examined 5,000 coins of 1 euro 90 days after the introduction of the euro to determine their origins. Only 10% of them came from other countries. The largest number of foreign EUR 1 coins arrived from Germany (3.9% of the total number), Spain (1.3%), and Italy (1.3%). Less than 1% of the number of coins came from Finland, Estonia, Belgium, Austria, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Greece, Ireland, and Portugal.
“We looked at coins from all over Latvia, because Citadele Encashment Service has the largest encashment network in the country,” says Citadele board member Kaspars Cikmačs. “This allowed us to gain a sense of data from all of Latvia. Citadele Bank offers various encashment services that offer security and convenience to clients. Our professionally trained colleagues take full responsibility for their work with cash.”
Encashment services allow entrepreneurs to transfer cash to specially trained bank employees who deliver it to the bank and transfer it to the relevant bank account. The services also allow companies to receive delivery of cash. In both cases, the services are provided as needed and with the necessary bills or coins.
Citadele Bank Encashment Service is one of the largest providers of encashment services in Latvia, providing services to many businesses, including clients of other banks. When these services are used, the money of the relevant businesses is insured. The delivery of money to the bank is handled by professionally trained and armed employees. Citadele has encashment departments not just in Rīga, but also in Ventspils, Liepāja, Valmiera, Jēkabpils, and Daugavpils.
About Citadele Bank
Citadele is a local Latvian bank which offers banking, financial and asset management services. The principal market of operation for Citadele Group is the Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Citadele Bank is the only cooperation partner of American Express® in Latvia and Estonia which possesses the right to issue American Express payment cards. In 2012, Citadele Bank received the highest evaluation and was recognized as the best managed state-owned enterprise in the Baltic States according to the Management of State-Owned Enterprises in the Baltic States study conducted by the Baltic Corporate Management Institute. Citadele's vision is to be the most valuable local financial group in the Baltic States. State joint stock company Privatizācijas aģentūra possesses 75% minus one of Citadele Bank's shares whereas 25% plus one share are possessed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.