Getting 5 euro notes from cash machines in Eurozone countries and obtaining coins

[DelayRepay]

Like most things, Covid changed ATMs. I work for a bank and I expect what happened here was common across the market.

Traditionally, we had a mix of £5s (certain ATMs), £10s and £20s. When Covid hit, we had branches closed due to staff isolating, and were concerned about the continued availability of cash deliveries. So we removed the £5s and loaded up on £20s - meaning the ATM held more cash and therefore could last longer between being serviced.

The trend during Covid was for fewer, but larger cash withdrawals. This trend hasn't reversed since the Covid restrictions were removed, so I doubt we'll be going back to stocking £5 notes. It just means the machine has to be filled up more often and therefore incurs additional costs because most of the machines are filled by a security firm.

I recall we did the same thing during the London Olympics - we were expecting ATMs in the area to be very heavily used, and road closures were likely to impact cash deliveries. So we temporarily changed the mix of notes to higher denominations, to make sure supplies could last as long as possible.

Allow me to reminisce - my first job was in a branch where we filled our own ATMs. We on the 'main drag' with most of the pubs in the town centre, so our ATMs were very heavily used at weekends. I remember filling the ATMs on a Friday before a Bank Holiday weekend and realising I was in charge of enough cash to buy my parents house (where I lived) three times over!

 

[Feuillesmortes]

I doubt we'll be going back to stocking £5 notes. It just means the machine has to be filled up more often and therefore incurs additional costs because most of the machines are filled by a security firm.

Thanks for explaining. Unfortunately it also means that rural bus drivers and independent cafés now have to find change for a £20 rather than £5

 

[DelayRepay]

Thanks for explaining. Unfortunately it also means that rural bus drivers and independent cafés now have to find change for a £20 rather than £5

It does, although those businesses are moving more and more to contactless payments.

If you want specific notes and don't have a branch nearby, most banks allow you to withdraw cash over the Post Office counter using your debit card. So if you have a local Post Office you could try asking them for small notes. And if they give you big notes, immediately use one of them to buy a second class stamp

 

[Old Yard Dog]

What on earth hotel wouldn't let you out until a specified time?! I'd use the fire escape (and never stay there again) if anyone tried such tripe on me. If I hadn't paid I'd leave cash and a snotty note behind the desk.

Leverkusen is a weird place, it was a very small hotel, and I was literally locked in. But I didn't go looking for the fire escape as, on paper, if I left at 0700, I still had time to buy my ticket (if I could suss the TVM) and catch my train.

It isn't uncommon for smaller hotels on the continent to have restrictions on how early guests can depart.

I usually order my euros online from the post office who usually give a range of denominations if you request it. But I never change left over euros or dollars back into sterling when I come back from abroad as I know I will always have the opportunity to use them again and it seems silly to keep on experiencing repetitive exchange rate losses. However I haven't been abroad since January 2019 thanks to Covid so inflation is now eating into my float.

I'm assuming the EU and USA haven't replaced their paper bank notes with new designs or plastic in the interim.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Leverkusen is a weird place

I've actually been there (did a bit of work for Bayer a while back) and I'd agree it's a bit of an odd place, but the hotel I stayed in, while not a well-known chain, was a perfectly normal business hotel. I'd be very unhappy, for fire safety reasons, about being actually locked in.

 

[DelayRepay]

But I never change left over euros or dollars back into sterling when I come back from abroad as I know I will always have the opportunity to use them again and it seems silly to keep on experiencing repetitive exchange rate losses.

I do that too. I don't tend to have a lot left as I use up any cash I have to pay for things towards the end of my trip, so it's usually just coins and occasionally low value notes. Even for the notes it's not really worth the hassle to change them back to Sterling.

Most of my travel is to the Eurozone, so I hang onto Euros. If I have any other currency and I know someone who's going to that country, I'll pass it on to them to use.

When I was going to Europe regularly for work (before the pandemic), I used to keep a travel wallet with any spare Euros, my overseas credit card and some other odds and ends that were useful on foreign trips.

 

[pemma]

What on earth hotel wouldn't let you out until a specified time?! I'd use the fire escape (and never stay there again) if anyone tried such tripe on me. If I hadn't paid I'd leave cash and a snotty note behind the desk.

I recently stayed somewhere that had a reception desk that wasn't staffed 24/7. We were given a code to get in 'out of hours' and there was a letterbox in reception to drop your keys in to if you were leaving 'out of hours'.

That's useful to know about LINK, thank you. I believe Citibank have £50s and Natwest often have £5s.

Some Natwest machines have £5 notes, others don't. It looks like Post Office ATMs might all have £5s. I didn't even know the one in the wall of the Co-op near me was a Post Office machine, while there's a Post Office instead the Co-operative Bank used to have a machine there.

 

[Springs Branch]

Maybe OT for a Eurozone thread, but many of the points made here apply equally to US$ and travelling to the USA - with the extra complication (unless you're met at the airport by local friends or family) that in the US you'll likely need a supply of $1 bills almost immediately after arrival for tips, tips, tips.

I read somewhere that Americans are highly resistant to replacing their paper $1 bill with a coin (which other western countries have done for currency of this value) because it's deemed inappropriate to be seen tipping service staff with a handful of coins (grubby greenback notes are OK though).

At least the US propensity for not including sales tax in prices means you pay odd amounts for many items, and it's not long before you've accumulated a collection of change from any cash purchases.

 

[pemma]

I read somewhere that Americans are highly resistant to replacing their paper $1 bill with a coin (which other western countries have done for currency of this value) because it's deemed inappropriate to be seen tipping service staff with a handful of coins (grubby greenback notes are OK though).

Maybe relates to it being easier to hand over a note/bill without any risk of touching the palm of the hand of the other person?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Maybe relates to it being easier to hand over a note/bill without any risk of touching the palm of the hand of the other person?

If that was really felt to be an issue, the European (and UK bus) approach of having a coin tray rather than passing money from hand to hand solves that.

 

[pemma]

If that was really felt to be an issue, the European (and UK bus) approach of having a coin tray rather than passing money from hand to hand solves that.

Not sure how you'd use a coin tray for a tour guide or a hotel porter.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Not sure how you'd use a coin tray for a tour guide or a hotel porter.

They could have a tip jar/box.