Getting change at stores or banks

Never had a problem with getting change for a purchase at a store or restaurant. Haven’t needed to go to a bank.

You won’t be popular in shops if you are trying to spend a £50 note for goods worth, say, less than £5 and they may say they don’t have change. You won’t have any issues at banks. £20 notes are in regular circulation.

In France, shops didn’t like my €50 notes, even an €18 supermarket shop, so I used these in restaurants.

We only had a problem once in London, at a Nando's restaurant where they said their policy was not to accept £50 notes. That said, in most stores we paid with credit card - this was the first trip where we came back home with unspent cash.

If you're planning to use card to withdraw from an ATM, it might be worth just keeping the cash to a minimum and using card except with the (increasingly rare) places that don't accept it.

Banks generally don't give change in France. They rarely handle money. My bank's local branch has a permanent sign posted on the door stating:

Le personnel ne détient pas d'espèces

...which means: staff do not possess cash.

In my opinion, it's highly likely that, if you were to go into a bank branch in France and ask for change for a paper bill, you would be refused.

The most common way to get change is to hold onto change from purchases you've made. As an alternative, some post offices will make change for you and some even have change machines.

Without making a purchase, it will be difficult to get change at a store.

Banks don't even want you in their building unless you have an account or are opening one, so no change there either.

Some ATMs do allow you to request the mix of bills you prefer. I can't remember which bank's ATMs in Paris offered me this option unfortunately.

Its pretty much the same as it is here in the US. My banks wont make change for a person walking up to the teller if they're not a customer. Change comes with purchases.

I can't remember which bank's ATMs in Paris offered me this option
unfortunately.

At least some of the BNP Paribas ATMs that I have used have offered this option, which is great, because then you get a mix of €10 and €20 (mostly €20) notes, which are easier to spend for small-value purchases.

I've never known an ATM in the UK give a £50 note.

They can be found in some posh parts of London - Mayfair, The City, and Canary Wharf are three that come to mind although even in these areas it is only a small sub-set of ATMs that do.

Except for an 11 day stint back in the USA earlier this month, I have been in the UK since the beginning of May. The only time I have used cash is in cabs and I could have used my card in most of them.

I used a few Credit Agricole ATMs in Brittany that proposed different combinations of notes for the amount I was withdrawing. What a delightful surprise. I didn’t use them in Paris, but may be worth trying if you’re nearby one. Or maybe I was just lucky and the ATM had just been serviced.

Depends what you call "large".
Why do you want to change them? Just wait until you need to pay for something with them.

Banks will never change money for non-customers. Shops will give change if you are buying something, but may be reluctant if you are buying something for £1/€1 and are handing over £50/€50.

The largest note in England is £50 (do they still have £100 in Scotland?), I would not call that "large".
ATM's do not stock these, largest is £20. The problem with £50 is that because ATM's do not stock them, people rarely have them, shops rarely see them, and are therefore reluctant to take them. So people don't want them, so banks don't put them in ATM's, . . .

In Euro countries there is €5, €10, €20, €50, €100 and €500. The €500 is being phased out. you can get €50 and €100 in ATM's (at least near me you can). I would not expect problems paying with a €50 or €100 as long as the amount to pay is reasonable.

I've rarely had problems in Euro countries with fifty or even hundred euro notes. As others have said, you may have more trouble with £50 notes in the UK - it's not so much that cashiers don't recognise them as that there have been issues with forgery in the past. But it's very unlikely that you'll ever handle one as a visitor, let alone be given one by an ATM.

I never had any problem in London getting change, as long as I bought something, but Paris was another story, it was a challenge getting change from anywhere. An example in May when I bought two Batobus tickets for 34 Euros. I tried to give the guy a 50, and he said he couldn't change that, I tried 2-20's, still No. Then a 20,10 and 5. Still refused change, even though I could see his till had plenty of money. We were on our way to a RS tour the next day and I told our guide the story. She said Paris is very bad for that, but the rest of France wouldn't be a problem, and she was right.

The largest note in England is £50 (do they still have £100 in
Scotland?

When we bought some Pounds at RBC Bank in Canada prior to our visit last Fall we were given 5-100 pound notes as well as smaller bills.

Thanks everybody, great information!

England, or at least London, is gradually automating the banking process. Last week I went into a modern-looking branch of a major bank and found one person on duty, helping customers use the machines. Sorry, we don't give out cash, she said. Walked a few blocks and found a bank that still handled cash. A real bank, it seems to me. Sigh.

If your bank doesn't tack on fees for using other banks' ATMs, you might want to adopt my approach, which is to make £40 or €40 withdrawals. I guarantee you won't receive any large notes if you do that. You'll need to pay attention to ATMs that charge their own fees in the UK, though, because fees on small withdrawals can be especially painful.

Following on acraven's idea, if you do withdraw larger amounts, ask for ones ending in 30 or 80, such as £380 or €430. This way, you are guaranteed at least one 10 and one 20. If this is rejected, then try asking for an amount ending in 40 or 90, in case the machine doesn't have 10's.

I find that whether or not it is difficult to use large notes depends on the country. The one I remember was Poland, where large notes were fine as long as I had the small change to make it "even." In other words, paying for a 12 zloty purchase with a 100 zloty note was a problem, but paying for it with a 100 zloty note PLUS a 2 zloty coin was totally fine! This happened almost every time - as long as I had the coins (so they didn't have to), I was fine with the big bills.

In the UK I never had any problems with £20 notes for any purchase, and I never got the £50 notes from any ATM, or even any "cashpoint" (UK speak for an ATM).

I use the self checkouts in supermarkets and convenience stores when i have a biggish note for a small purchase, or when I know I'll need change later, the checkouts take £5/10/20s, no human contact involved, no frowning or tutt tutt,

The widespread growth of contactless bank cards (transactions under £30) and full chip and pin has made getting around London with little or no cash extremely easy, buses and underground are cashless, you can buy your coffee and sandwiches or pub meal and drink with a tap of a card.

Agree with above, if you bring some cash to tide you over (say £50-£100 ) make sure you ask your home bank not to give you a £50 note.

I've had no problems paying with a 50 Euro note in Germany or Austria, say paying in a train station food court costing eg, 13 Euro. They take a 50 Euro notes as do small restaurants or taverns.

In France if a I get 50 Euro note, I ask the hotel to break it, in which form convenient to them. No problem.