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THE EUROPEAN CENTRAL Bank is set to decide the fate of the €500 banknote, which many people associate with money laundering, the black market and terrorist financing.
But its possible abolition is raising hackles in countries such as Germany.
The violet-coloured bill, the largest denomination banknote in the single currency area and physically also the bigger than the five other euro bills, is on the agenda of a meeting of the ECB’s governing council..
Notwithstanding any surprises, the council is likely to vote to stop issuing them, as the bill is believed to be favoured by criminals for moving large sums of money around without the authorities knowing.
“Such notes are the preferred payment mechanism of those pursuing illicit activities, given the anonymity and lack of transaction record they offer, and the relative ease with which they can be transported and moved,” according to a recent Harvard University study.
Because of its size and portability, the €500 note has become so prized in underground finance that it can trade at more than its face value, and has become known in some circles as a ‘Bin Laden’, the study said.
The €500 note is “used more for hiding things than buying them,” said French Finance Minister Michel Sapin in March.
“It is used more to facilitate transactions which are not honest than to allow you and me to buy food to eat,” Sapin said.
‘Organised crime isn’t stupid’
According to ECB statistics, the €500 bills account for just three percent of the total number of banknotes in circulation, but 28% of the total value.
Nevertheless, resistance to its possible abolition appears to be particularly high in Germany, where most people still prefer to make payments in cash.
And when the euro was created, it was Germany that had been keen to have a €500 bill because it was of a similar size denomination as its 1,000-deutschemark banknote.
Opponents of the note’s abolition are concerned that it would simply be the first step in abolishing cash altogether and be replaced by electronic payment systems that can be completely monitored by authorities.
A number of experts have suggested that doing away with the €500 note would not be particularly effective in fighting crime.
“Organised crime isn’t stupid. Most money is laundered without cash via bogus companies,” said Friedrich Schneider, an expert on the shadow economy at the University of Linz in Austria in interviews to a number of German media recently.
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They were called the Bin Laden because everyone knew they existed but few people had actually seen one.
As good old Bertie would say “I won all those €500 notes on a horse boss”.
Glad that you clarified the €500 note in the pic is fake, I never would have guessed.
Haha! They did say they were the largest of the Euro notes but 4ft by 3ft seems a bit much alright!
The first time I saw one was at Pennys…Two middle eastern ladies with about 5 shopping bags each. The till attendant looked confused and called her manager who took the note and disappeared to the back of the shop. He returned it to the ladies and told them the shop couldn’t accept the note…
Palestinian ladies?
Same happened me but in a different shop. Got rid of it in the local pub !!
Same happened to my mum in Aldi. They told her they dont take denominations higher than a €50
I wonder if I’ve ever been within the vicinity of a 500 euro note. I thought they were fairy tales.
I held one once! I was flying to Bordeaux, France with two friends when I was 17. They overbooked the flight and offered us €250 each if we accepted a diversion to Paris. Being broke students, of course we accepted! That’s a lot of drinking money!
Trying to find someone to break that note, however, was quite difficult.
Sorry mister have you got change of a 500. And 20 marlboro reds
I saw a bundle of 10 or more as a Traveler wanted to pay his taxi fare with one … 3am he was surprised when I didn’t have change!! Another scam by a Traveler
I better getting spending so
Of course the Germans are up in arms! The only ones with money!!!
I thought you meant that salute then to Merkel, lol.
Less to do with organised crime, more to do with the war on cash… The real reason for banning the €500 banknote – https://www.sovereignman.com/trends/the-ban-on-cash-is-coming-soon-18687/
Correct Daniel, I’ve been waiting for this to happen. The biggest surprise is how easily it is going to be passed through without any significant objection. Keeping money in banks is what central banks need now.
Thank God my pin number is 666 anyway lol.
Next, pay by tattoo?
http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2011/08/tattoo-electronics-huang.html
Only ever saw one and that was in Milan. It was not mine hihi
You see them when working in Dubai esp at Holidays when people are changing money
Only used for tax dodging anyway…very little legitimate reasons to have such a large note.
Highly spurious statement. I have come across them a few times in my business weddings and events) To be fair they have to be lodged but there’s no more incentive to launder with them than with 5 €100 notes. It is just another step towards cashless society and the day when every transaction-financial and social – can be logged and monitored, which all the coffee table socialists utilitarians on here seem to be hoping for.
You’re wrong. They’re not only used for tax dodging – they’re also good for money laundering.
I used them to wallpaper the living room.
Eamonom…”The man” is continually chipping away toward the cashless society and almost total monitoring of our transactions and movements…ATM’s,GPS…..and the forcing of “consumers” to have bank accounts…
I get where you’re coming from Eamonom – if I wanted to spend my money on things like (for the sake of the argument) pornography, BDSM sessions or gifts for my mistress, I should at least have the option to do it anonymously rather than be forced into leaving an electronic financial record which some unscrupulous person could sell to third parties or hack remotely from their mum’s basement.
At the same time though, it’s a little hard to argue for keeping a denomination which is absurdly large for practical everyday usage, unless of course people have so little faith in the current state of the Euro that they’re preparing for Zimbabwe-like levels of inflation…
But it is not for everyday use. Unless we turn into Weimar Germany. It’s for occasional use. From a business point of view clients that pay cash are preferable not because of tax evasion but because you can even lodge a cheque for a sandwich without a ridiculous fee attached to the payee. Also it’s your money – how you want to spend it and in what denominations is your business. Regarding tax evasion – It’s up to revenue to decide if you’re fiddling and they will fix the penalties. But it’s far easier to fiddle with many smaller payments than with big scores.
” coffee table socialists utilitarians ”
WTF?!
Do you need me to google that for you? “Coffee-table” as in superficial and shallow. A life style accoutrement rather than a thought through philosophy. Socialist well I guess that’s self explanatory but just in case a political belief that emphases the collective over the rights of individuals. Utilitarianism – the philosophical belief that wants best for all involved.
My point being I have a problem with pointless egalitarian sloganeering that takes rights and freedom of individual choice (yes even at the cost of equality) and places the individual debt to “society” and the general will over the right to persue individual freedom and happiness. And part of that freedom of choice is the freedom from oppressive monitoring of purchases and choices. And that’s what this measure is a prelude too.
It used to be a case that for revenue purposes the onus was on the seller to declare their purchases. No we have pivoted to a position where people expect individuals to declare their purchases and allow their choices to be monitored. Not something I’m a fan of. The best for all concerned sounds like a nice idea until you realise it was a Utilitarian who came up with the idea of the Panopticon – the self censoring prison that is the intellectual model for today surveillance society…which is a very very long winded answer to your question.
They’re great under the mattress Ted. You can’t even feel them!
Niall __ I had so many under my mattress, I kept bashing my nose on the ceiling when I went to bed.
And for Germans buying big cars?
They were nicknamed “Bin Ladens” because they were so difficult to spot. At least in Spain. Your association of the nick to crime is quite lame, totally missing the wit of it.
I’ve never even seen one.
Have you ever seen a grown man naked?
Only when I see your daddy sneaking out of the barn.
I had the same trouble until I lost weight lol.
Never saw one…ever. I do not think I will lose any sleep over it.
BTW for the commenters who think they have nothing to hide so there is no problem in loosing all privacy and being monitored 24/7… Please think of where that leads.
Unfortunately a cashless society is where we are heading.
There will always be an alternative. Bitcoin etc
Oh no how will all those retired F1 drivers pay for their vodka in Monaco,
Gonna need a bigger wallet now if I’ve to change my 500′s into 50′s ! Lol…
It wouldn’t affect me if they discontinued everything higher than a €20!! :(
Yep and when it all comes crashing down the next time in a cashless world and your card is no good think 1847 try eating it your card
I still remember holding a £100 (pounds) note back in 1980.
It was a wonder to behold.
Manna from heaven.
I have never before or since held such a high denomination banknote.
The article says the 500 trades above its face value, I have one and I would take 600 for it.If the Mafia is reading this give me a call.
drug dealers and foreign nationals use 500 euro notes
I think they fit nicely into brown envelopes for T.D’s and MEP as well?
Was selling an item on adverts chap came to my house checked out said item quite extensively I might add thought the f#@ker would never leave anyway everything was good he takes his wallet out and pulls out a 500 note my eyes nearly popped out of my head I said what the f@#k you expect me to do with that it was a bank holiday weekend too wasn’t impressed as I held it up to the light he says “it’s real” I said “yeah just checking” I’d be f@#ked if I was gonna be ripped haha true story.
The ECB sees money out side of banks as debt, therefore they rather have people their money in the banks than on them, is this not the real reason?
What will I do with all my money
I was living very comfortably until i lost my job and gradually things was getting rough due to not being able to get another job and i pay my bills with no help from anyone thus i choosed to live on my own, it gives me more freedom and ability to reach my goal. I decided to seek for an online jobs since it was difficult getting a job and run across a forum were hackers advertised their blank ATM cards worth millions, i saw this as a joke but still decided to see how it works so i emailed (atmclassicalworldhacker.hackersworld@outlook.com). Few days later i checked and saw that someone replied to me requesting for money and information i was at first skeptical but i gave them all they required for m to get the card, but i was so so surprised to receive a package from the courier after seven(7) days and to the greatest shock of my life i was holding a card sent to me by this hackers which really made me to be a rich woman beyond my imaginations. All thanks to CLASSICAL HACKERS (atmclassicalworldhacker.hackersworld@outlook.com)
damm I hate carrying around loose change
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