The general public is embracing the euro and the changeover is proceeding as planned. Bank of Valletta has reported that its branches were operating smoothly notwithstanding the heavy demand. "Up till 2.00pm yesterday, BOV branches had handled nearly 15,000 cash transactions exchanging Maltese Lira to euro for a total value of euro 7.42 million (Lm3.2 million). A further euro 5.1 million (Lm2.2 million) was deposited by customers," said John Cassar Torreggiani, Executive Head responsible for the Euro Changeover Programme at Bank of Valletta.

Bank of Valletta thanked its customers and the general public for the cooperation that is being shown with the Bank's employees. "We have over 600 employees deployed at the front line in our branches and our people are totally focused on delivering an excellent level of service notwithstanding the heavy demand," said Mr. Cassar Torreggiani. The Bank said that there was a regular heavy flow of customers throughout the morning and it was managing to limit waiting times to between 10 and 30 minutes.

ATMs were also operating in full swing with ATM withdrawals from the 1st January till 1600 hours today being reported at over 3.6 million euro. The demand is constant and BOV ATMs across Malta and Gozo are being replenished with fresh euro banknotes regularly.

Bank of Valletta also reported strong card usage with transactions worth over 575,000 euro being processed through its EPOS terminal network up till 2.00 pm today.

The Bank said that the conversion of all its IT systems had proceeded smoothly and BOV internet banking subscribers could log on to view account information including their account balances converted to euro as the clock struck midnight on the 31st December 2007.

For the first day of business following the adoption of the euro as Malta's currency, BOV staff at branches wore specifically-designed sweatshirts to welcome the new currency.

The Bank reminded the general public that tomorrow (Thursday 3rd January) its branches will again remain open till 4.00pm with the main objective of getting as much Maltese Lira notes and coins as possible out of circulation and to replace these with the new currency. Customers can make cash deposits in both Maltese lira and euro, cash exchange from Maltese lira to euro, and exchange foreign currency banknotes into euro banknotes and coins.