Do money changers and banks have the right to charge a fee for worn bills?

On June 10, 2023, the National Bank of Ukraine provided clarification on this issue. (https://bank.gov.ua/ua/news/all/rozyasnennya-natsionalnogo-banku-ukrayini-schodo-obminu-gotivkovoyi-inozemnoyi-valyuti)

Authorized institutions are obliged to accept foreign currency banknotes, which in terms of design and security elements fully correspond to the samples and descriptions given on the official websites of the central/national banks of foreign countries, and have no signs of wear or have been acquired during circulation one or more signs of minor wear.

Signs of minor wear and tear include:

• local abrasions (partial loss of paint on images) and/or loss of paper stiffness;

• imprints of stamps/seals, inscriptions, including those visible in ultraviolet rays, the total area of which does not exceed 200 square meters. mm;

• spots, the total number of which does not exceed three pieces with a diameter of up to 5 mm;

• tears or incisions, the total number of which does not exceed three pieces up to 3 mm long;

• holes and punctures, the total number of which does not exceed four pieces, with a diameter of no more than 1 mm each.

Such bills, regardless of their year of issue, banks and exchangers are obliged to accept.

Commission possible upon exchange:

• banknotes of foreign countries acquired at the time of application show signs of wear exceeding minor;

• banknotes of foreign countries that have suffered one or more signs of significant wear/damage at the time of application;

• torn (cut into pieces);

• with damaged elements of design and protection (deleted digital or text designations of the denomination, portrait images, optically changeable protection elements, protective tapes);

• with changed initial color of paper and/or images;

• with local impurities (spots), including those visible in ultraviolet rays, the total area of which exceeds half of the area of the banknote with general impurities, including papers that cause luminescence in ultraviolet rays;

• burned, scorched, old (damaged due to prolonged exposure to moisture, various liquids, chemicals or with signs of decay);

• have obvious typographical defects;

• banknotes withdrawn from circulation by a foreign country after the date announced by the issuing bank of the relevant currency (with the consent of the correspondent bank of the relevant country to exchange these banknotes).