Comments from/to non-German speaking forumers

[lmviterbo]

I've been spending (and exchanging) fivers all over.

I also had the great experience (new for me) of withdrawing from one ATM.

Long live Sparkasse.

[Marco1970]

My 2nd longest hit happened today: Ridderkerk - Erfurt, 454 km. in 2.579 days!

https://www.eurobilltracker.com/notes/?id=217674242

[Steda]

Congrats to Moise with his first place on EBT !!!

[savesigita]

Hello dear fellow german trackers!
In a few weeks we'll be traveling through your country! We want to bring from as many notes as possible and take from also as many notes as possible! so we were wondering how it works with banks: do they exchange notes to anybody doesn't matter if a customer or not? because in Austria they do, in Italy depends on the bank. Is there any specific bank you'd recommend? or any other way just to leave and take as many notes as possible in a short time?
Paldies grazie danke !

[GWR7007]

Hello dear fellow german trackers!
In a few weeks we'll be traveling through your country! We want to bring from as many notes as possible and take from also as many notes as possible! so we were wondering how it works with banks: do they exchange notes to anybody doesn't matter if a customer or not? because in Austria they do, in Italy depends on the bank. Is there any specific bank you'd recommend? or any other way just to leave and take as many notes as possible in a short time?
Paldies grazie danke !

As far as I know, exchanging notes at the banks without being a customer is not very easy, if not to say nearly impossible. For example, "my" bank only has one counter left at the main branch in Münster but if one wants to change you have to prove that you are a customer (showing the bank card is sufficient).
The only exception are the few branches of the "Deutsche Bundesbank"; the German Federal Bank which are open to everyone and also change € for €. Usually, they're only open in the morning and at least during the last Covid-months you had to make an appointment instead of just going there and get notes changed (I haven't been to any for months). Bear in mind that you'll only receive new uncirculated notes.

For receiving as many notes as possible (probably you want ) try the "Volksbank" or some branches of the "Commerzbank" (not all of them offer see here for a -maybe no always 100% up-to-date- list of deposit/pay-out ATMs (Einzahlung/Auszahlung) that offer )

[trezay]

As GWR7007 said, it's getting more and more difficult to exchange notes in German banks Sometimes, if you act like a confused tourist, they'll take pity on you and accept to exchange notes, provided the amount is "reasonable" (~under 100€). It really depends on the bank employee's good will though, so I wouldn't plan my trip around that. The list of Commerzbank ATMs GWR7007 linked to will give much better (and easier) results.

Just to add to GWR7007's message, if you want to visit the Bundesbank, you have a list of locations here. You can click on any of the locations on the map to see if you need an appointment or not (in most cases you do, but some locations, like Karlsruhe or Ludwigshafen, don't require an appointment). If you're okay with receiving brand new notes, that's a good solution, you can easily exchange larger amounts.

[Rotes Gras]

Hi!

As posted above, the branches of Deutsche Bundesbank are definitely the easiest way to get also larger amounts of banknotes. The downside is that you will always just get new notes.

If you want to withdraw fivers, the branches of Volksbank are to my mind the best way to do so, also because you also find it in smaller towns and villages.

As far as Commerzbank is concerned I think I have noticed that it is only possible for members of the bank to choose a certain denomination. As a non-member you can just type in an amount and you will have to take the denomination the bank offers you. I am not though a hundred percent sure if this is really true and this might also vary from branch to branch.

Here is a current list of the branches which still exist: https://www.commerzbank.de/filialen/de/ ... sicht.html

Unfortunately, not every branch offers fivers and smaller branches often have just one ATM only. You also should be prepared that this single ATM is also frequently out of order.


As a member of Commerzbank you can change as many banknotes as you want to. Since it is only an exchange and not a withdrawal, there is no registration taking place. This is why some of the most prominent German power trackers can track banknotes all day long.

Here is my special offer to you: if you come to Berlin, we can change notes using my bankcard. I promise that I won't cheat, but of course the more notes you will track the higher is the chance that there will be a hit also with me

[inDUS]

Should you happen to visit Düsseldorf or a surrounding city you could benefit from my Commerzbank card and
exchange notes at their ATMs.
And don't forget to bring Baltic coins which are still rare in Germany...

[savesigita]

As far as I know, exchanging notes at the banks without being a customer is not very easy, if not to say nearly impossible. For example, "my" bank only has one counter left at the main branch in Münster but if one wants to change you have to prove that you are a customer (showing the bank card is sufficient).
The only exception are the few branches of the "Deutsche Bundesbank"; the German Federal Bank which are open to everyone and also change € for €. Usually, they're only open in the morning and at least during the last Covid-months you had to make an appointment instead of just going there and get notes changed (I haven't been to any for months). Bear in mind that you'll only receive new uncirculated notes.

Thank you for your informative reply! Once again, unfortunately, covid has been used as an excuse to limit things that used to be possible! On various trips, to Malta, to France, to Austria especially, i just walked inside any bank and got as much as €400 exchanged into small notes. No problem, just friendly cashiers. No idea how it was in Germany pre-2020 but i know how it was in other countries.
Thanks for the Bundesbank suggestion, well technically as I give them my used notes i might be able to receive some used too, I mean what are they gonna do with the ones i give away, probably give them to the next in line, right? So theoretically that could happen to me too.

[nossi]

In Austria the ÖNB give all used notes to the GSA. They did not give any used note to customers.

[trezay]

As far as Commerzbank is concerned I think I have noticed that it is only possible for members of the bank to choose a certain denomination. As a non-member you can just type in an amount and you will have to take the denomination the bank offers you. I am not though a hundred percent sure if this is really true and this might also vary from branch to branch.

I think you can't exchange notes at the ATMs unless you're a customer. But you can definitely withdraw cash and choose which denominations you receive, with any non-Commerzbank card. I do it all the time. (But as you say, it might vary from one Bundesland or from one location to another, I don't know).

@savesigita: After inserting your card, make sure you you select the option labeled "Bargeldauszahlung (individuell)" on the right of the screen. Otherwise, you'll get the denominations the ATM chooses for you.

Thanks for the Bundesbank suggestion, well technically as I give them my used notes i might be able to receive some used too, I mean what are they gonna do with the ones i give away, probably give them to the next in line, right? So theoretically that could happen to me too.

Other users will probably know better than me, but I think they control the condition of the note and destroy it if it's too old or damaged. I assume they re-circulate notes to banks if they're in a good enough condition In any case, I've only ever received brand new notes from them. Also:

On various trips […] to France […] i just walked inside any bank and got as much as €400 exchanged into small notes.

… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but France is now worse than Germany in that regard. There's not a single bank that I know of that still has a counter where you can exchange cash, customer or not. A few banks have installed ATMs like the Commerzbank, where you can trade notes, but as far as I know, they're all reserved to customers

[Rotes Gras]

If you get new bills or used ones depends a bit on the concrete branch of the Bundesbank. In Berlin you always get just new bills. In Stuttgart it happened to me that I also got used notes and coins. I have the impression that there, they put all the notes they get during the day on the same heap. However, I wouldn't rely on that.

The Bundesbank is the German central bank. The used notes they get via their counters are distributed again to cash machines and other clients.

It is maybe for reasons of prestige why they don't want to hand out any used money.

[savesigita]

Here is a current list of the branches which still exist: https://www.commerzbank.de/filialen/de/ ... sicht.html

Dankeschoen/Paldies/Grazie!

Here is my special offer to you: if you come to Berlin, we can change notes using my bankcard. I promise that I won't cheat, but of course the more notes you will track the higher is the chance that there will be a hit also with me[/b]

That is a very nice offer that I would definitely take up, if only we were passing through Berlin, but this time we are gonna be in Southern Germany,

germany.jpg (126.89 KiB) Viewed 5688 times

but I'll keep it in mind for the future. I'd be glad to do the same for you or anybody who comes to Tuscany, during the months while we live there and I would help out also in Latvia but here, even as a customer, banks charge you for exchanging bills (crazy!)

Should you happen to visit Düsseldorf or a surrounding city you could benefit from my Commerzbank card and
exchange notes at their ATMs.
And don't forget to bring Baltic coins which are still rare in Germany...

Same goes for Dusseldorf, happily in the future! thank you very much!

Is there anybody in Munich or around available for this exchanging help?

[GWR7007]

Thanks for the Bundesbank suggestion, well technically as I give them my used notes i might be able to receive some used too, I mean what are they gonna do with the ones i give away, probably give them to the next in line, right? So theoretically that could happen to me too.

I don't know precisely where they put the notes but they will not just give them to the next one waiting. Notes you give them will probably be checked, then packed into bundels of 100x5 or just given to companies that re-stock the ATMs/supply change to supermarkets etc. some time later.
I tried to discuss with cashiers but apart from the branch in Dortmund and Osnabrück >5 years ago and Bielefeld where they sometimes did it but only if they received an amount of notes that they could pack again (100xdenomination X or multiples of them) and only very reluctantly.
They seem to have their orders to only give the uncirculated notes of which there always are enough. While I'm thinking about it.... the only time I received used notes without fussing with the cashier at the Federal Bank were 2x in 2017 at the (now closed) Düsseldorf branch. Although as rare as are, them being (only slightly) used didn't make any difference EBT-wise

But you can definitely withdraw cash and choose which denominations you receive, with any non-Commerzbank card. I do it all the time. (But as you say, it might vary from one Bundesland or from one location to another, I don't know).

With my Dutch card I got the choice how many notes I wanted to withdrwa in various Western German member states (North-Rhine Westphalia, Saarland, Hessen, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein) without any problem and while I cannot comment on the other regions, I'd be tempted to say that as the Commerzbank is one bank operating nationwide, they shouldn't apply different condidtions to different regions .
Of course, I couldn't exchange notes at the ATMs.

[tralla]

Reisebank has branches at big train stations and I have changed money there several times, no fees, just a big smile and a "maybe you can help me...".
The website seems to be German only but if you check the "Filialen" checkbox at
https://www.reisebank.de/standortsuche
this should give you some idea. "Hauptbahnhof" is "Main Station". These should also be open on Sunday.

HTH, tralla