Awareness Level of Baguio City Public Market Vendors in Identifying Counterfeit Paper Bills

Abstract

Baguio City is a popular tourist spot whereby money circulates faster than vendors can verify the genuineness of paper bills. The objectives of this study included the assessment of the awareness level of the Baguio City public market vendors on the features of counterfeit money and the identification of factors affecting this measure. Pearson’s chi-square test was conducted, revealing that participants were equally unaware of the six visible security features. Out of the 480 expected correct number of answers, only 241 were reached by the participants. The most known feature was the watermark, and the least observed security feature was the security fiber. Participants were unfamiliar with the minimum and maximum digits on a serial number. There were also trends implying that there still needs to be briefing regarding the optically variable device (OVD) patch between the old and new (polymer) 1000-peso bills. Several prominent themes emerged in relation to the interviewee’s awareness of the visible security features on the Philippine peso bills, including heavier reliance on texture characteristics, limited access to money detection technologies, non-participation in related trainings and seminars, and the fast-paced nature of the market. Selective inspection of higher denominations was also a factor because participants were only wary of higher denominations like 500- and 1000-peso bills. Lastly, the participants expressed that fear of financial loss associated with the acceptance of fake paper bills could have influenced their awareness level as well, considering that such fear drove them to be more attentive to visual features...