Queues formed outside banks and ATMs yesterday on the first day of business following the euro changeover and customers are likely to have stared hard at the screen to register that it was the euro currency at the top of the withdrawal options and not the lira as they have been used to.
Most could probably use an ATM blindfolded but would have slowed down the pace to figure out exactly how much they wanted to withdraw, other than the standard round figures in liri.
They may have also done a double take when they noticed that their balance, which can at times be negligible for some, ran into the thousands.
Bank of Valletta reported a heavy demand at its branches but smooth operations, saying the public was embracing the euro and the changeover was proceeding as planned.
Until 2 p.m. yesterday, it handled nearly 15,000 cash transactions, exchanging the lira into euro for a total value of €7.42 million (Lm3.2 million) and a further €5.1 million (Lm2.2 million) were deposited by customers, John Cassar Torreggiani, the executive head responsible for the euro changeover programme at the bank, said.
"We have over 600 employees deployed at the front line in our branches and they are focused on delivering an excellent level of service notwithstanding the heavy demand," he said.
The morning saw a regular, heavy flow of customers but waiting times were limited to between 10 and 30 minutes, Mr Cassar Torreggiani continued.
ATMs were also operating in full swing with withdrawals from January 1 until 4 p.m. yesterday reaching over €8.39 million (Lm3.6 million).
The demand was constant and BOV ATMs were regularly being replenished with fresh euro banknotes.
The bank also reported strong card usage, with transactions worth over €1.33 million (Lm575,000) being processed through its EPOS terminal network until 2 p.m. yesterday.
The conversion of its IT systems had proceeded smoothly and BOV internet banking subscribers could log on to view account information, including their account balances, converted into euro as the clock struck midnight on December 31.
Today, its branches are remaining open until 4 p.m., with the main objective of getting as much Maltese notes and coins as possible out of circulation and to replace them with the new currency. Customers can make cash deposits in both lira and euro, exchange cash from lira to euro and exchange foreign currency banknotes into euro banknotes and coins.
As expected, the flow of customers yesterday, both at most HSBC branches and its ATMs was higher than normal - a scenario the bank had foreseen, HSBC said.
However, it preferred not to divulge how much cash has been withdrawn, citing security reasons. HSBC considered the changeover to be a "complete success. It has been very smooth with all of our ATMs dispensing euro at the stroke of midnight on January 1, as was the case with EPOS machines and all other systems," it said.