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pletes the OeNBÕs information kit on<br />
Basel II.<br />
Because of the high number of<br />
counterfeit euro banknotes, the<br />
OeNB and the Austrian Broadcasting<br />
CorporationÕs radio station O‹3 decided<br />
to revive their joint public relations<br />
campaign ÒMEHRscheinchen.Ó<br />
At the heart of this campaign was a<br />
competition based on the serial numbers<br />
and security features of banknotes;<br />
winners were awarded money<br />
prizes. This initiative reached 84%<br />
of O‹3 listeners and familiarized them<br />
with the security features of the euro<br />
banknotes. All in all, 800,000 people<br />
participated in the ÒMEHRscheinchenÓ<br />
contest, which involved checking<br />
euro notes for the winning serial<br />
number and examining their security<br />
features.<br />
The Eurotour bus first toured<br />
Austria in 2002 and 2003, providing<br />
Austrians all across the country with<br />
the opportunity to exchange their<br />
schillings for euro and to obtain information<br />
about money matters. As this<br />
service was very well received<br />
(90,000 persons visited the Eurotour<br />
bus)andasAustriancitizensÕneed<br />
for information is increasing steadily,<br />
the OeNB decided to turn the Eurotour<br />
bus into a permanent mobile<br />
branch office. To this end, a new<br />
bus was furnished with state-of-theartequipment.With97stopsallover<br />
Austria, <strong>2004</strong> has been the most successful<br />
year for the Eurotour so far.<br />
113,000 Austrians visited the Eurotour<br />
bus, receiving information about the<br />
euro and exchanging around<br />
ATS 63 million for euro.<br />
In <strong>2004</strong> the number of questions<br />
addressed to the OeNBÕs information<br />
services (hotline and electronic<br />
query) went up by 15% to 31,400.<br />
This marked increase is largely attributable<br />
to the considerable rise in email<br />
queries, whose number grew<br />
by 2,000 to 6,800 year on year in<br />
<strong>2004</strong>. The number of electronic<br />
queries was driven up primarily by<br />
questions about monetary policy and<br />
central banking issues raised by university<br />
and Fachhochschule staff and<br />
students as well as business people,<br />
which are also responsible for the rising<br />
complexity and increasingly demanding<br />
nature of these inquiries.<br />
As a consequence, more time and effort<br />
has gone into providing answers<br />
to hotline inquiries.<br />
The Statistics Hotline offers competent<br />
advice and information on the<br />
OeNBÕs financial statistics to the Austrian<br />
public. Like the general information<br />
hotline, the Statistics Hotline<br />
was in high demand in <strong>2004</strong>; the<br />
number of requests grew by 17%<br />
year on year, reaching 1,800. 90%<br />
of all inquiries were answered within<br />
24 hours. The clients of the Statistics<br />
Hotline not only include experts<br />
from commercial banks, law firms<br />
as well as consulting companies and<br />
financial analysts, but also a growing<br />
number of journalists.<br />
In September <strong>2004</strong> the professional<br />
management of the OeNBÕs<br />
Money Museum was rewarded with<br />
the Austrian quality seal for museums<br />
— a memorable highlight for the museumÕs<br />
staff.<br />
The OeNBÕs Information Policy —<br />
Conveying Stability and Security<br />
Cooperation with O‹ 3,<br />
Eurotour bus<br />
Humming hotlines<br />
The OeNBÕs Money<br />
Museum<br />
<strong>Annual</strong> <strong>Report</strong> <strong>2004</strong> ×<br />
65