Why aren't €100 and €200 notes more common?

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2019/html/ecb.pr190528~b1158f43b6.en.html

New €100 and €200 banknotes start circulating today
28 May 2019

Banknotes with new and upgraded security features enter into circulation today
A satellite hologram and an enhanced emerald number make the banknotes more resistant to counterfeiting
€100 and €200 banknotes complete the Europa series
The new €100 and €200 banknotes, the last notes in the Europa series, start circulating today. The banknotes use new and innovative security features and are easy to check using the “feel, look and tilt” method.

At the top of the silvery stripe a satellite hologram shows small € symbols that move around the number when the banknote is tilted and become clearer under direct light. The silvery stripe also shows a portrait of Europa, the architectural motif and a large € symbol. The new €100 and €200 banknotes also feature an enhanced emerald number. While the emerald number is present on all the other notes of the Europa series, this enhanced version also shows € symbols inside the number.

The new €100 and €200 notes are now the same height as the €50 banknote, which makes them easier to handle and process by machines. They will also fit better in people’s wallets and last longer, as they will be subject to less wear and tear.

The €100 is the third most widely used euro banknote, after the €50 and the €20. The demand for €100 and €200 banknotes is increasing, at an annual rate of 7.6% for the €100 and 8.6% for the €200.

The €100 and €200 banknotes of the first series, like all the other denominations, will remain legal tender. They will continue to circulate alongside the new notes and will be gradually withdrawn from circulation.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/policy_and_exchange_rates/banknotes+coins/circulation/html/index.en.html

Stats on the quantities and value of banknotes.

GazzaL wrote: »

Many businesses appreciate cash because they don't have to pay card handling fees.

It's handy for all sizes of purchases, and for tipping people.

It's also good for privacy if you don't want everyone that works in the bank to know when and where you spend your money.

Businesses pay more to the bank when they lodge cash. Debit card fee is cheaper.

Card payments also more secure. Cannot be lost and cash is a security risk on a premises.

Privacy is a different issue but banks only look at your accounts when looking for loans os you must have a gambling problem.:pac:

Truckermal wrote: »

A wallet full of no cash is even better just using your card or Google pay I can't remember the last time I had cash..

Yep, I checked - I went to an ATM the grand total of 3 times since September last year. I have a 20€ note in the wallet that must be there since before the virus situation...

Pauliedragon wrote: »

Some people like cash others like to use card. I use card these days but even when I did use cash I never felt the need to have a wallet full of 50s. Why the reason for carrying so much cash around?

Will never understand. It's been a while now, people are getting finally used to the cards, but I have seen people taking a literal roll of 50s, held with a rubber band, and take what they needed to pay out of it in places like Harvey Norman's or Currys. Ok, I understand if you're going to buy a fridge or a dishwasher these things can be pricey, but still, when the whole roll of notes remains consistent after taking like 500/1000 out of it, you'ra carrying a decently sized village's worth of Credit Union in your pocket

blindside88 wrote: »

The UK is ridiculous for acceptance of what we would consider regular sized notes. I went to buy a round in a bar in Bristol a few years ago and handed in a £50 note, 2 staff members and the manager had to scrutinise it before they’d accept it. Similarly I bought something for £12 in a shop there and handed in £20, only to be asked “have you nothing smaller”!!!

To answer your question op I just don’t think the majority of people have a need for larger denominations than a €50 note, €100 possibly but it would be needed very infrequently. On the rare occasions I’m taking thousands out in cash I’m usually spending it in one or two transactions and spending it fairly quickly.

Italy's even worse than that - they will try the impossible not to accept anything bigger than a 20 note and they WILL insult your intelligence in the process: you're queuing at the supermarket, everyone pays cash, you get to the till, it's like 25, you try to hand the 50 to them and they go "ah, see, I have no change..." - what were these people paying you with so? Monopoly money?

Then you take the card out, and they start grumbling about having to actually give you a receipt and pay taxes "credit card fees"... :rolleyes:

There is, I believe in Sydney Airport, a dickhead bureau de change that gives tourists 500 euro notes, then they land in ireland and realise its basically useless. I think central bank are relatively good at sorting them out, but I'd hate to be picking up a car at the airport and only finding out when your in the back arse of donegal.......

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

In the UK, you don't even see £50 notes that often. My friend's British husband was in his 20s before he saw one. I never received a £50 note from an ATM when I lived there and only very rarely in shops.

In NI I don't think I've ever come across an ATM that gives out £50 notes. Always £20 and £10 notes and on increasingly rare occasions £5 notes. I rarely see £50 notes myself, and anytime I've seen one being used to pay for something it's almost always checked for counterfeiting via UV light or pen but rarely not otherwise accepted. A couple of years back the UK government were considering phasing out the Bank of England £50 note due to concerns about its use in counterfeiting & crime assets but instead a new polymer £50 note is to be introduced with Alan Turning featured on it.

The NI and Scottish banks that are allowed to print their own bank notes still have some do print £50 and £100 notes though they're not in large circulation; of the four northern banks Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland and AIB have £50 & £100 notes available (though AIB are planning a phased withdrawal of their pound sterling notes) while Danske now only print £10 and £20 notes. I could have sworn that at one point a Scottish bank once had a £500 note in circulation but a quick web search shows up nothing.

When I was in Australia a couple of years ago the yellow AU$50 notes were extremely common to see but the green AU$100 notes were nowhere - the only time I seen one was when getting pound sterling changed to Australian dollars at a bank in Omagh prior to heading out there.

Yyhhuuu wrote: »

The £1 and £2 coin were redesigned to combat counterfeiting and are similar to the €1 coin that I'm sure they could have been slipped in before the public familarized themselves with the new coins.

The £2 coin was introduced in 1998 before Euro notes and coins were brought into circulation within the Eurozone. AFAIK it has not undergone a redesign since it's introduction as its bimetal composition was intended to be as up to date in deterring counterfeiters for its time and seems to have worked OK in this regard despite being an obvious target.

You're fairly right about the £1 coins though - when the new 12-sided coin was introduced it was reckoned that anything between 3-6% of the old round pound coins in circulation were fakes as they were fairly easy to manufacture & pass off to many people whom couldn't easily tell, with quality varying from awful to being so good even those that regularly looked for counterfeit coins found it very difficult to tell.

ILoveYourVibes wrote: »

i can't figure out why they don't get rid of the brown coins

Probably still value in the 5c coin as an anti-inflation measure, not to mention that 1c & 2c coins perhaps still have noted value in less prosperous parts of the Eurozone. The Aussies still have a 5c coin, while the New Zealanders lowest coin denomination is 10 kiwi cents.

hynesie08 wrote: »

There is, I believe in Sydney Airport, a dickhead bureau de change that gives tourists 500 euro notes, then they land in ireland and realise its basically useless. I think central bank are relatively good at sorting them out, but I'd hate to be picking up a car at the airport and only finding out when your in the back arse of donegal.......

Guy I worked with lost his bank card after a night out. Phoned the bank and got a replacement sent out. But it went to his parents' address rather than his because he'd never bothered changing it. When he got the call from the parents to say they'd got it, he went to the branch to complain Bollocked them out of it apparently (for his own mistake). They asked him if he needed to withdraw some money to get through the next few days before his parents could send on the card. He asked for €200, and was chuffed when he received a shiny new €200. He was showing it to everyone in the office. His delight was short lived when he had bother finding any business willing to accept it and realised the bank teller had gotten their revenge for his attitude.

To the card-only/anti-cash people, what do you do when there a problem with the card machine or even a power failure? In the canteen in work, they brought in contactless payments when Covid came along (although they were planning it anyway) and I've no problem using it, but a few times in that period, the card machine has been out of action a few times but luckily I had cash with me too. What would you do?

Badly Drunk Boy wrote: »

To the card-only/anti-cash people, what do you do when there a problem with the card machine or even a power failure? In the canteen in work, they brought in contactless payments when Covid came along (although they were planning it anyway) and I've no problem using it, but a few times in that period, the card machine has been out of action a few times but luckily I had cash with me too. What would you do?

The last time I encountered an issue with a card machine was more than 10 years ago, and it was due to the cashier not reading the display on the machine properly. I just used a card.

When the power is out in a shop, their tills don't work so they can't even do cash transactions.

cruizer101 wrote: »

I used to work in dunnes and we took in the odd 500 euro note, obviously did full counterfeit check on it but did accept it.

500 are going to become rarer and rarer, they are no longer issued by banks so whatever is in circulation now is it.

Yes but what do you do if card reader is not working. Computer systems fail. I came across this a few times. Luckily I always carry around €100 cash- It does me about a month these days on day to day spending as I spend very little. I also value my privacy.

BrianD3 wrote: »

It would be good to have the the option of choosing denominations when withdrawing cash from an ATM - I notice that AIB's machines are not giving 50s for the full amount i.e. if you request 500, you'll get 9 x 50, 2 x 20 and 1 x 10, bit of a pain.

It would be a pain if you had €500 an couldn't buy something for €1.

McGaggs wrote: »

Irish shops complaining about having to break a 20 you got from their ATM. My local shop when I lived in the States had no issue with a $100 bill being used to buy something for a couple of dollars

US$50 notes have been notorious for being fakes.

Our pre-Covid cash handling bill (covering lodgement and change delivery) could be almost twice our merchant processing bill even with 8 terminals rented.

These days we have so little cash transactions we're saving money.