PHILIPSBURG--The early closure of banks as well as ATM, online banking and credit and debit card disruptions are expected as the country transitions from the Netherlands Antillean guilder NAf. to the new currency – the Caribbean guilder XCG on March 31.
The Caribbean guilder will be introduced in Curaçao and St Maarten as of Monday, March 31, and the Central Bank of Curaçao and St. Maarten (CBCS) said it is confidently awaiting the transition.
Transition period
CBCS said it will take some time before everyone has enough Caribbean guilders to handle all cash transactions entirely in the new currency. Therefore, from March 31 to June 30, 2025 (the co-circulation period), cash payments can be made in both NAf and Caribbean guilders. Although businesses have been asked to provide change in the Caribbean guilders, they may initially still give change in NAf because they might not yet have enough Caribbean guilders available.
Online, ATM and Visa and Mastercard Debit and Credit transactions at commercial banks play a key role in the transition and there has been intensive collaboration to adapt the payment systems. It has been agreed that on March 31, 2025, the banks will close to the public at 12:00 noon to facilitate the necessary preparations, CBCS said. Although the Caribbean guilder will become legal tender on that day, payments will transition to the new currency overnight from March 31 to April 1, 2025.
“Specifically, this means the currency code in the systems will change from NAf. to XCG.” CBCS said that from 8:00pm to April 1, 8:00am, the online banking system will not be fully available. During the NAf.-to-XCG transition, ATMs may be temporarily unavailable for cash withdrawals. The duration of the disruption to online banking services and ATMs will vary between banks, depending on the migration work required for each bank. For logistical reasons, ATMs will be gradually replenished with Caribbean guilder banknotes over a maximum period of two weeks. As a result, the public could continue to receive NAf banknotes from ATMs on March 31, the day the Caribbean guilder enters into circulation, and in the days thereafter.
The public should also be aware that (debit and credit) Visa and Mastercard payments may be temporarily unavailable from around midnight on April 1, 2025, depending on the bank. This will vary from bank to bank.
Information campaign
The CBCS launched an information campaign some time ago to familiarise the public with the security features of the new currency and to prepare them for the transition. This campaign included sessions for the public and the business and industrial sectors (at the CBCS premises, on site at businesses, and at community centres), online sessions, TV and radio interviews, and brochures, which were also distributed door to door. All information is also available on the My Caribbean Guilder app (available in Dutch, Papiamentu, and English) and on the website www.caribbean-guilder.com.
