Are 500 euro bankontes accepted for exchange

[Barry864]

Hey guys,

Does anybody know if the 500 euro banknotes are accepted for exchange by banks in Bangkok and Pattaya ?

Thanks in advance for your replies

[Jdietz]

Yes. They even get a (slightly) better rate.

[Suradit69]

11 hours ago, Barry864 said:

Does anybody know if the 500 euro banknotes are accepted for exchange by banks in Bangkok and Pattaya ?

 

Just keep in mind they would not accept bank notes that are slightly damaged  even though those  same notes would be accepted by a bank in Euro Land.

 

The only thing Thai banks and currency exchanges can do with foreign bank notes is to sell them to another customer. Someone buying Euro notes from a Thai bank or currency exchange would expect to receive clean, undamaged notes only.

 

Banks in the currency's country of origin are less picky since they can collect damaged notes  and send them back to their central banks in exchange for new notes.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Suradit69

[recycler]

The bigger money changers will give you an even better rate than the banks in some cases you can even exchange in your own country without taking the money to Thailand in cash.

[jackdd]

43 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

The only thing Thai banks and currency exchanges can do with foreign bank notes is to sell them to another customer. Someone buying Euro notes from a Thai bank or currency exchange would expect to receive clean, undamaged notes only.

I'm quite sure that much more foreign currency is taking into Thailand than out of Thailand, so they probably have other channels to get rid of all the foreign currency

[Gulfsailor]

5 minutes ago, jackdd said:

I'm quite sure that much more foreign currency is taking into Thailand than out of Thailand, so they probably have other channels to get rid of all the foreign currency

I assume the excess foreign currency is sold to the Bank of Thailand who adds it to its foreign currency reserve. 

[observer90210]

But what about the fact that the ECB has discontinued from 2018 onwards, the 500€ note. Still legal tender, but keep that in mind.

 

In Europe, you will have hassles even in very large stores, large gas stations who plainly do not accept the 500 € ...so I would never go to Europe with 500 € notes.

 

Many banks, in Europe (and probably abroad) start to challenge you with the new fashion to counter money laundering.

 

As usual, the big crooks who launder billions, will never be hassled, but the average guy, who perhaps had stacked a few notes at home just in case, will always be the one to get harassed.

 

Even the 200€ notes cause lots of trouble in restaurants and shops in France.

 

Best bet is to have only 100 € and 50€ notes, if you don't want any hassles in Europe.

 

And if you really must have large denominations of a banknote, go for the 1'000 Swiss Franc. No questions asked, a solid and reliable currency IMHO and no issues of suddenly getting discontinued with no cash back.

Edited May 11, 2018 by observer90210

[OJAS]

3 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

But what about the fact that the ECB has discontinued from 2018 onwards, the 500€ note. Still legal tender, but keep that in mind.

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/pr/date/2016/html/pr160504.en.html

 

As 500 EUR banknotes become scarcer in the long term, they will probably prove increasingly difficult to exchange outside the Eurozone.

 

[KKr]

10 minutes ago, Gulfsailor said:

I assume the excess foreign currency is sold to the Bank of Thailand who adds it to its foreign currency reserve. 

usually, Central Banks keep their reserves in an account with the BIS or other institutions. 
Just imagine the physical volume of reserves in Banknotes, that moreover do not earn interest.

Banknotes are shipped around the world between traders / wholesalers, who used to be primarily in Switzerland, and are  then re-distributed / sold to other retailers or send to the origin country to be put in a bank account.

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by KKr

[Just Weird]

12 hours ago, Barry864 said:

Hey guys,

Does anybody know if the 500 euro banknotes are accepted for exchange by banks in Bangkok and Pattaya ?

Thanks in advance for your replies

Why not ask a bank or exchange bureau?

 

I'd very much doubt it, though, as they are not normally issued to customers in the UK without extensive enquiries into why they are needed.  They may be more interested in how you came to be in possession of them.  They can't even be exchanged at UK exchange bureaux.

 

How did you get hold of them?

Edited May 11, 2018 by Just Weird

[AsiaHand]

Real ones ?

[Suradit69]

1 hour ago, jackdd said:

I'm quite sure that much more foreign currency is taking into Thailand than out of Thailand, so they probably have other channels to get rid of all the foreign currency

"Getting rid" of it means selling it. It's a commodity and the only reason currency exchanges or banks would bother with it, is if they can unload it at a profit to someone else... unless you know of some currency exchanges or banks being purposely run as charities. As soon as it requires storage, packaging and shipping to "get rid" of it, the margin of profit is eroded or disappears.

 

Some customer, whether it's individuals, banks, the Central Bank, drug dealers, money launderers or whoever, has to buy it for more than the bank or currency exchange paid for it or there would be no rational purpose in engaging in exchange for foreign currency.

 

I'd love to hear what profitable "channels" you think exist for currency exchanges and banks other than selling the notes. Possibly gluing them together for shelf lining or using them in place of bubble wrap when sending things by DHL??

 

In any event, the fact remains that banks or currency exchange will refuse damaged, torn, stained notes because they won't be easy to unload on other customers or through other magical channels you think exist other than selling them.

 

If you bring damaged notes to a bank in the country of origin for the currency, they remove them from circulation by handing them over to the central currency authority and receiving new bank notes or credit. That option is not available to Thai banks dealing with dollars, Euros, etc and would be prohibitively expensive if it did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Suradit69

[NRGF]

Many places in Europe will not accept even 100 Euro notes, 50's are the largest in general circulation.

[rutteketuut]

Last September I exchanged 20 500 euro banknotes ( 10000 euro) in Pattaya. I went to TT exchange ( yellow board) on second road south Pattaya not far from the traffic lights. Go to the exchanger where you can go inside, they give the best rate. If big amount of money you don't want to do it on the street. 

[crazyk]

I heard they was stopping the 500 euro note as a lot of forgerys about as its more profitable.same as british £50 notes.couldn't cash them anywhere.if i heard that so has the money changer.just go to your bank & change for smaller denominations.unless you got a load of forgerys.if so you will be caught on the first 1 as the cashier will have to pay for it.thats why they have a keen eye

[shaurene]

Couple years back I exchanged quite a few at Super Rich Exchange. No problem I also got a better rate. There was a problem some years back with copies and the EU notified banks and exchanges they had took them off the market. They produced new ones more specialised to copy and put them back on the market.

[Gillyflower]

2 hours ago, NRGF said:

Many places in Europe will not accept even 100 Euro notes, 50's are the largest in general circulation.

I live in a small town in Euro country, no problem with 100 note.  However whenever I go to an ATM I am only given the option of 50's or less.  When I want something like 3, 4, 500, I am only given 50's.  Perhaps if I went into the bank, I may be given larger denominations.

 

As for the 500,I have never ever seen one.

[Gulfsailor]

1 hour ago, Gillyflower said:

I live in a small town in Euro country, no problem with 100 note.  However whenever I go to an ATM I am only given the option of 50's or less.  When I want something like 3, 4, 500, I am only given 50's.  Perhaps if I went into the bank, I may be given larger denominations.

 

As for the 500,I have never ever seen one.

Euro 500 notes are getting rare. Most banks don't give them anymore. Except Switzerland apparently. I sell boats in Europe, and Swiss customers when purchasing with cash in Euro normally handover 500 Euro bills. Fine by me, as it is preferable to traveling with a suitcase full of 50 Euro notes. Europe anti-money-laundering and anti-terrorism-funding rules do require me to keep detailed communication history and ID of anyone buying a boat in cash though, and every few years a task force actually checks the records. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Gulfsailor

[geisha]

Rubbish, lots of people pay with 500 notes. All the high end shops   Restaurants and hotels, jewellers, all take them. If you have a good meal for 4 and a bottle of wine or two, it’s easily 500€ in Europe ! The notes have to be reasonably clean. Easily changed in Thailand’s too. It’s legal money, why shouldn’t someone / buisness accept these notes ? 

Even if they stop printing them or ease the bills out of circulation, there will be a warning and they will still exchange them in the banks for a certain amount of time.

[HampiK]

I even use the 1'000 CHF note to exchange in Thailand, which would be about 900 Euros, depending on the exchange rate.

There is no problem at all. Many countries thinking to remove the bigger notes at this is also used for black money and other bad stuff.

 

But there is still many parts where a bigger notes is very useful. I think in Switzerland the 200 CHF is very common for shopping, as the 100 is mostly already to less for a weekend shopping. OK the 1'000 is big but perfect for bring some money into Thailand. Much better to have let's say 3 times 1'000 note than need to use 30 times a 100 note!

Use less space and easier to hide in a small pocket so a thief can't get it.