I wanted to get some $20 bills that were new from the bank last week because I like to collect sequential serial numbers if I can. I gave a not from the drive thru with my check requesting the new bills. When I opened the envelope, no new bills, so I went into the bank and asked a teller that I've known for over 20 years if I could exchange the bills for new ones. She told me that they do not get new bills, so I called the headquarters to see if they could work it out, they referred me to the branch manager that I was just at and he told me he would get me some the next Thursday. New next day, some lady called me and said they would not be getting them for me. It really ticked me off so I wrote a letter to the Chair of the Board of Directors, the President and CEO, and the branch manager, each getting a copy of the letters I sent to the others. I just wondered if this is something common with banks and if anyone else has done a dumb stunt like I did.
I don’t know for sure, but I doubt banks know when they are getting new notes in. Kinda just depends on what people bring in or what they get when they order money from the Fed or a cash management company. Also, some tellers/bank employees may have gotten confused at what you meant by “new bills”. They might have just though you were asking when they get money delivers, and not fresh notes. Also also don’t think you will hear much back from them, but I applaud the effort.
First, it's boxes of coins to search for silver, and now it's sequential notes. When did the function of a bank become a branch of the US Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing? Chris
The only time banks can guarantee having new sequential bills available is in November and December, which is when the Fed allows special requests to be made for them to be ordered for the Christmas season. Otherwise, it is strictly luck of the draw with what they get shipped into their regional headquarters and what gets dispersed to local branches. Sometimes you can get lucky and find banks to have new sequential bills in stock in July but sometimes you can go for nearly a year without finding any. In summation, you have asked your bank straight up through their chain of command to do something that they are unable to do and have wasted your time and their time in the process. To your credit, they should have informed you like I have just done about the time of year when they can be acquired and the limitations in being able to guarantee the procurement of new sequential notes.
Ordinary circulation is why banks typically don't have crisp or consecutive $20 notes. My local bank has consecutive $5s and $10s, but not $20s. $20s are either handed out or deposited in banks and it's rare to find consecutive notes. Why do you want consecutive 20s? Are you saving them for some reason? If not, I don't know why you would go to such trouble for modern consecutive banknotes.
I can walk into my Credit Union and get new, strapped, sequential bundles of cold hard cash anytime. I love it. They smell *new* because they are. Try a different bank or credit union. Apparently not his bank.
Yeah, it depends heavily on where the bank orders its currency. If they order directly from the Fed, they can specify new or used bills (although the Fed does reserve the right to ignore those requests if, for example, they get too many requests for new money when they've got lots of old money waiting to be shipped out). But if your bank isn't a member of the Fed system and they get their cash through another bank that is a member, then that other bank may not give them any choice in the matter. (It also may not let them order "weird" money like $2's or half-dollars at all.) In that case, complaining to management won't do any good. Of course, it's also possible that the bank *can* order new currency but has a policy of not doing so. In that case, complaining to management might accomplish something, if you have sufficient pull with management....
True, but why go to all the trouble just for new notes? If your bank has them, cool. If not, then it's unfortunate.
