Are US $100 bills from before 2006 accepted everywhere?

[thailandsgreat]

Hi guys,

For my next trip to Thailand I will have to bring some US $100 bills from 2006. They are in good condition but are not of the type that has a holographic strip (that was introduced the year after, I think).

I will probably just exchange the bills for Baht and put on my bank account.

Do you think these older banknotes are accepted everywhere?

I was offered such bills last year in Thailand and Burma, but I asked for the new type. Sorry if the answer is obvious (they are accepted) but I want to make certain I can use the banknotes when I get to Thailand.

Thanks.

Edited May 11, 2016 by thailandsgreat

[cdnvic]

Might have a better class of reply in the banking forum.

[mogandave]

Some banks will not take them, l know mine will not. I think the money-changers at the airport will take the.

If you are still in the US you might want to trade the for clean new bills before you come.

[new2here]

Some banks will not take them, l know mine will not. I think the money-changers at the airport will take the.

If you are still in the US you might want to trade the for clean new bills before you come.

This is same as I've experienced it too. Full and sub-Bank offices as well as forex-only kiosks/shops tend to be very conservative in terms of the notes they'll accept.

I know that at times, some specific sequences of notes (i.e. Notes from day the San Francisco FRB code L, and if serial my Veda between XXXXX and XXXX) may also be refused.

I'd just get new version, wholly clean notes and reduce this refusal risk to as close to zero as possible.

[Diplomatico]

I've never had them refused as long they were in good condition (no rips, tears, writing on them, etc.)

[thailandsgreat]

Thanks for your replies. I live in Sweden so I can not just swap them for new bills. (Getting new bills might involve two exchanges.)

I am not sure, but if I exchange them for Baht here I may have to exchange via Swedish currency which will be costly. (The banks doing exchange also sometimes ask for bank statement from your main bank according to money laundering regulations. It is no problem, just some bureaucracy.)

It is also more practical to carry dollar and exchange as you travel. I sometimes make trips outside Thailand.

It may cost me a little, but maybe safest to exchange the bills to Swedish currency and deposit on my Swedish bank account. After that I can transfer money to my Thai account or use in ATM.

Thanks guys.

Edited May 12, 2016 by thailandsgreat

[55Jay]

I used to carry in 100 dollar bills for my vacations here and change for Baht. One trip, maybe 6 or so years ago, I had 2 of the old style bills mixed in with new ones, and a small money changer I used that time in BKK, didn't accept them. It never occurred to me it would be a problem, but I made a point to check the 100s before leaving on subsequent trips to Thailand.

[taxout]

The only safe approach travelling in Asia is to carry new crisp notes of the newest series, with no tears or markings, particularly those odd stampings.

[mgjackson69]

I was in Kuwait early this year for work. I had previously been there in 2013 and had a few currency notes left over from that trip.

I needed a bit more local cash than I had, so I hit an ATM in the airport.

Later that night I went to a phone shop to pick up a local SIM...the shop owner would not take the old notes. Fortunately I had enough of the new notes to take care of my purchase.

I found later that Kuwait had done a currency reissue in 2014. There was a period where merchants were accepting both the current and previous series of notes. Currently, one can take the previous notes to the central bank and exchange for new notes.

The amount of old notes I had did not compel me to go to some governmental-type office and deal with the bureaucracy.

Some more notes for my collection of my currencies of the world.

[DividendGuy]

I just went through this. All you have to do is take them to Bangkok Bank's main branch here in Bangkok and they will transfer them into baht.

[mogandave]

That's convenient...

[OMGImInPattaya]

I used to carry in 100 dollar bills for my vacations here and change for Baht. One trip, maybe 6 or so years ago, I had 2 of the old style bills mixed in with new ones, and a small money changer I used that time in BKK, didn't accept them. It never occurred to me it would be a problem, but I made a point to check the 100s before leaving on subsequent trips to Thailand.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but what is the reason for carrying actual currency with you when you travel internationally these days? Assuming one has a major currency bank deposit somewhere with ATM card access, why take the risk of theft or currency refusal when you could just withdraw local currency at your travel destination with an ATM card?

The ATM charges and currency exchange loss using the ATM card I've found to be no more than actually exchanging notes (if you take decent chunks of money out at a time...at least US$ 300-500).

[mogandave]

I carry an ATM card, but cash as well. My ATM cards do not always work in all countries.

[OMGImInPattaya]

I carry an ATM card, but cash as well. My ATM cards do not always work in all countries.

That used to be an issue in the past but if traveling through\to any decent sized city or airport, ATM's will be available and usually one can find one that accepts your card. I too, however, carry a couple Benjie's for such a contingency but haven't had to use them in years. Even my Thai bank ATM cards work fine overseas (at least in neighboring countries).

If one was traveling to remote areas maybe it makes some sense but still, could just top-up at the destination airport on arrival.

Edited May 14, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[Michael8511]

If you are in us now you should exchange them at the bank. I had 2 of these old ones and they did not accept them in Thailand, I tried a few banks and money exchange places. Good luck.

[mgjackson69]

In forty countries I have always been able to get cash, either through my ATM card or one of my credit cards (one branded MasterCard, one branded Visa).

I always carry some US currency, just in case...the greenback is accepted nearly everywhere. Similar to our friend OMGImInPattaya, I have not had to use my emergency greenbacks in years...usually I end up spending them when I am in USA, then refreshing with some new bills when I am ready to depart.

[mogandave]

I carry an ATM card, but cash as well. My ATM cards do not always work in all countries.

That used to be an issue in the past but if traveling through\to any decent sized city or airport, ATM's will be available and usually one can find one that accepts your card. I too, however, carry a couple Benjie's for such a contingency but haven't had to use them in years. Even my Thai bank ATM cards work fine overseas (at least in neighboring countries).

If one was traveling to remote areas maybe it makes some sense but still, could just top-up at the destination airport on arrival.

Well I couldn't get either my US or TH ATM card to work in Delhi a few weeks ago or KL a couple months ago. I pay most everything with credit card, but like to have some cash to walk around with.

[OMGImInPattaya]

If you are in us now you should exchange them at the bank. I had 2 of these old ones and they did not accept them in Thailand, I tried a few banks and money exchange places. Good luck.

He's in Sweden.

[OMGImInPattaya]

I carry an ATM card, but cash as well. My ATM cards do not always work in all countries.

That used to be an issue in the past but if traveling through\to any decent sized city or airport, ATM's will be available and usually one can find one that accepts your card. I too, however, carry a couple Benjie's for such a contingency but haven't had to use them in years. Even my Thai bank ATM cards work fine overseas (at least in neighboring countries).

If one was traveling to remote areas maybe it makes some sense but still, could just top-up at the destination airport on arrival.

Well I couldn't get either my US or TH ATM card to work in Delhi a few weeks ago or KL a couple months ago. I pay most everything with credit card, but like to have some cash to walk around with.

Do you notify your bank when you travel...maybe they were declined for security reasons. I travel to Phnom Penh regularly and have no problems using my Thai and US ATM cards at about half of the ATM's (the others are just domestic Cambodian bank ATM's). I also recently went to Jakarta and again they both worked fine at the major Indonesian bank ATM's.

[thailandsgreat]

I have spent most of the last 15 years abroad, Europe, Asia, Africa, S. America. My VISA card has "never" failed. Cambodia, India, Indonesia f.ex, no problem. I never ever reported travel plans and was never asked to. Often ATM and occasionally shops.

It is difficult to buy air tickets to/from many African destinations using credit card over the Internet. But no problems in ATM.

(Card was skimmed once in Brazil, but the bank compensated the full $4000)

Thanks for comments on old banknotes. The largest money changer in Sweden accepted the bills, counted them but finally asked for bank statement how I bought them.

Money laundry rules very strict now. It is easy to transfer over Internet. But small posts of bills are checked!

So on Monday I must see if my regular bank can find when I bought dollars and make copy of statement. They only allow me to list my account two years back over the Internet. But I have an idea about dates.

I should probably never have started this. It would have been better to bring the bills to Thailand or Myanmar and look around among money changers. A double exchange in Myanmar is cheap. Low spread for dollar.

Edited May 14, 2016 by thailandsgreat

[mogandave]

I carry an ATM card, but cash as well. My ATM cards do not always work in all countries.

That used to be an issue in the past but if traveling through\to any decent sized city or airport, ATM's will be available and usually one can find one that accepts your card. I too, however, carry a couple Benjie's for such a contingency but haven't had to use them in years. Even my Thai bank ATM cards work fine overseas (at least in neighboring countries).

If one was traveling to remote areas maybe it makes some sense but still, could just top-up at the destination airport on arrival.

Well I couldn't get either my US or TH ATM card to work in Delhi a few weeks ago or KL a couple months ago. I pay most everything with credit card, but like to have some cash to walk around with.

Do you notify your bank when you travel...maybe they were declined for security reasons. I travel to Phnom Penh regularly and have no problems using my Thai and US ATM cards at about half of the ATM's (the others are just domestic Cambodian bank ATM's). I also recently went to Jakarta and again they both worked fine at the major Indonesian bank ATM's.

It worked in HK last week and always works in Dubai.

[55Jay]

I used to carry in 100 dollar bills for my vacations here and change for Baht. One trip, maybe 6 or so years ago, I had 2 of the old style bills mixed in with new ones, and a small money changer I used that time in BKK, didn't accept them. It never occurred to me it would be a problem, but I made a point to check the 100s before leaving on subsequent trips to Thailand.

I don't mean to be argumentative, but what is the reason for carrying actual currency with you when you travel internationally these days? Assuming one has a major currency bank deposit somewhere with ATM card access, why take the risk of theft or currency refusal when you could just withdraw local currency at your travel destination with an ATM card?

The ATM charges and currency exchange loss using the ATM card I've found to be no more than actually exchanging notes (if you take decent chunks of money out at a time...at least US$ 300-500).

At the time, was just waking up to my credit union's fees, and was carrying in USD cash to avoid them, get a slightly better exchange rate, then deposit the Baht in the wife's local acct for use during our vacation. At first it was "fun" heading to the SuperRich (or whatever) in BKK after landing but yes, you're right, the logistics and potential risks, caused me to make other arrangements.

Before moving here full-time, got myself set up with Schwab/Capital One cards with no foreign transaction fees, Thai ATM fee reimbursements, ACH transfers via BB NY, etc....

[OMGImInPattaya]

I have spent most of the last 15 years abroad, Europe, Asia, Africa, S. America. My VISA card has "never" failed. Cambodia, India, Indonesia f.ex, no problem. I never ever reported travel plans and was never asked to. Often ATM and occasionally shops.

It is difficult to buy air tickets to/from many African destinations using credit card over the Internet. But no problems in ATM.

(Card was skimmed once in Brazil, but the bank compensated the full $4000)

Thanks for comments on old banknotes. The largest money changer in Sweden accepted the bills, counted them but finally asked for bank statement how I bought them.

Money laundry rules very strict now. It is easy to transfer over Internet. But small posts of bills are checked!

So on Monday I must see if my regular bank can find when I bought dollars and make copy of statement. They only allow me to list my account two years back over the Internet. But I have an idea about dates.

I should probably never have started this. It would have been better to bring the bills to Thailand or Myanmar and look around among money changers. A double exchange in Myanmar is cheap. Low spread for dollar.

That is really strict...one of the reasons for carring US$, and taking the risk of loss from theft or fire, was because they were "good as gold" anywhere in the world because they were easily exchangeable into a local currency or just used directly. Now even that's not the case. Good luck getting those bank statements.

[B1TcoinLife]

I have spent most of the last 15 years abroad, Europe, Asia, Africa, S. America. My VISA card has "never" failed. Cambodia, India, Indonesia f.ex, no problem. I never ever reported travel plans and was never asked to. Often ATM and occasionally shops.

It is difficult to buy air tickets to/from many African destinations using credit card over the Internet. But no problems in ATM.

(Card was skimmed once in Brazil, but the bank compensated the full $4000)

Thanks for comments on old banknotes. The largest money changer in Sweden accepted the bills, counted them but finally asked for bank statement how I bought them.

Money laundry rules very strict now. It is easy to transfer over Internet. But small posts of bills are checked!

So on Monday I must see if my regular bank can find when I bought dollars and make copy of statement. They only allow me to list my account two years back over the Internet. But I have an idea about dates.

I should probably never have started this. It would have been better to bring the bills to Thailand or Myanmar and look around among money changers. A double exchange in Myanmar is cheap. Low spread for dollar.

My Kasikorn visa card failed in London yesterday, it was unable to book a flight online because it didn't have a feature I'd never heard off called 3d secure :

http://www.sagepay.co.uk/support/12/36/3d-secure-explained

I thought in 2016 all visa debit or credit cards would be standardized but I was very wrong.....

[thailandsgreat]

I have spent most of the last 15 years abroad, Europe, Asia, Africa, S. America. My VISA card has "never" failed. Cambodia, India, Indonesia f.ex, no problem. I never ever reported travel plans and was never asked to. Often ATM and occasionally shops.

It is difficult to buy air tickets to/from many African destinations using credit card over the Internet. But no problems in ATM.

(Card was skimmed once in Brazil, but the bank compensated the full $4000)

Thanks for comments on old banknotes. The largest money changer in Sweden accepted the bills, counted them but finally asked for bank statement how I bought them.

Money laundry rules very strict now. It is easy to transfer over Internet. But small posts of bills are checked!

So on Monday I must see if my regular bank can find when I bought dollars and make copy of statement. They only allow me to list my account two years back over the Internet. But I have an idea about dates.

I should probably never have started this. It would have been better to bring the bills to Thailand or Myanmar and look around among money changers. A double exchange in Myanmar is cheap. Low spread for dollar.

My Kasikorn visa card failed in London yesterday, it was unable to book a flight online because it didn't have a feature I'd never heard off called 3d secure :

http://www.sagepay.co.uk/support/12/36/3d-secure-explained

I thought in 2016 all visa debit or credit cards would be standardized but I was very wrong.....

For at least 5-6 years I have been asked for password when I make larger buys (like air tickets) over the Internet using VISA card. The procedure also includes me verifying the server (not only the server verifying me) by reading a pass sentence the server sends to me. (I was asked to construct that sentence and password when this procedure started. All was set up automatically when I bought a ticket over the Internet, when this system was introduced.)

I don't know what this procedure is called but it seems to have the same function as you describe.

I am not sure this procedure is connected to the type of card. If you contact Kasikorn or just simply go to your Internet bank, maybe you can set up this kind of verification. It would be a little strange if some VISA cards didn't allow it. No reason for Kasikorn to disable it.

Edited May 15, 2016 by thailandsgreat

[taxout]

Visa, Mastercard and AMEX all offer some variants of the 3D system, in which a page pops up direct from your bank asking you to input some secret code. Since the code is supposedly sent from your machine to your bank encoded, it's believed to be relatively secure. Unlike, say, your card number and three-digit card code, which the seller (or the seller's bank) sees.

Not all banks offer 3D on their cards, in the U.S. especially. This can be a problem buying online in Asia, where many sites won't process a card unless it's supported by 3D, since it reduces the seller's risk of card fraud.

[thailandsgreat]

I could finally exchange my 2006 bills today at the largest Swedish chain of exchange offices.

But first my bank had to print statements from my account covering the time the bills were bought! One even included accessing an older computer system. At least corruption is low in Sweden, but I don't think money that is sent over the Internet is always checked that closely, and depositing cash dollars abroad isn't always that hard.

I have a Baht account at Bangkok Bank, but I usually travel on tourist visa. I think I'll make a try at the head office in Silom to get a dollar account, the next time I pass.

Thanks for the comments, guys.

[OMGImInPattaya]

I could finally exchange my 2006 bills today at the largest Swedish chain of exchange offices.

But first my bank had to print statements from my account covering the time the bills were bought! One even included accessing an older computer system. At least corruption is low in Sweden, but I don't think money that is sent over the Internet is always checked that closely, and depositing cash dollars abroad isn't always that hard.

I have a Baht account at Bangkok Bank, but I usually travel on tourist visa. I think I'll make a try at the head office in Silom to get a dollar account, the next time I pass.

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Foreign currency accounts have high fees and are generally a bad deal, unless you expect the baht to drop precipitously during the time you have the account. Best is to just use a Swedish bank ATM card to obtain baht from Thai bank ATM's when you're in Thailand. Edited May 17, 2016 by OMGImInPattaya

[thailandsgreat]

I could finally exchange my 2006 bills today at the largest Swedish chain of exchange offices.

But first my bank had to print statements from my account covering the time the bills were bought! One even included accessing an older computer system. At least corruption is low in Sweden, but I don't think money that is sent over the Internet is always checked that closely, and depositing cash dollars abroad isn't always that hard.

I have a Baht account at Bangkok Bank, but I usually travel on tourist visa. I think I'll make a try at the head office in Silom to get a dollar account, the next time I pass.

Thanks for the comments, guys.

Foreign currency accounts have high fees and are generally a bad deal, unless you expect the baht to drop precipitously during the time you have the account. Best is to just use a Swedish bank ATM card to obtain baht from Thai bank ATM's when you're in Thailand.

Baht from your bank in your home country via ATM is good. But my dollar are mostly for travel outside Thailand.

I had a dollar account with Bangkok Bank in Phnom Penh. That had no fees (and very little interest) as I remember, but poor service. (I had problems making transfers in Baht to my Thai account.) I'll try Bangkok next time.

Edited May 17, 2016 by thailandsgreat