Banks in Poland won't accept blemished UK notes

Just a quick warning to all Brits taking Sterling notes into Polish banks.

I took over a fair wad of cash and had around 10% handed back to me because there was writing (pen or pencil) on the notes. I then had to find a kantor to convert these into PLN before I could deposit them.

I asked why the bank refused them and the teller was very nice, but said the central office will discipline the teller if they allow any blemished notes through.

I know we're all very used to writing on our cash here in the UK so it came as a bit of a shock!

Hope this helps some people

nothing new they wont even take $ in rage once i tore some and told em they good which i went to us and taped them and used them without a prob

Can you post which bank it was?


No Deepak, they just won't take your money: they don't want your business. For the rest of us depositing dollars is no problem at all.

Sure, Pekao SA

I had this problem with Pekao also...they didn,t like my scrunched up English money at all..

Its the same in Russia , they love your dollars , but only if they are in pristine condition....

Like the ones that come out of Russian ATMs :)

I think dollars in Russia are meant to be transported in envelopes, or put into shoeboxes under beds, not pockets.

I think reporting this to the British Embassy would be appropriate ........
Don,t want our money, don,t have our tourists !!

Of course blemished notes are still LEGAL TENDER, so if this sort of money is all you have with you when visiting Poland, what are you supposed to do if no one exchanges it for you ?

No wonder Poles are treated with contempt in the west.

Only at the bank's discretion. And not abroad.

In Poland, there have been various changes in currency over the years plus hyperinflation so they are quite conservative. Also, pound notes are money in the UK, but foreign currency in PL. Worth being careful about.

The thing about notes with writing on has changed for the better over the years. PKO (SA or BP) aren't the best place to go to - many other banks would be OK about it.

And you think the British Embassy would give a toss? Hahaha. They don't care about British people living in Poland, what makes you think they would care less about some tourists?


Legal tender where? All banknotes aren't even legal tender in Scotland!

If no-one exchanges it for you, it's your responsibility to do something about it. After all, they can quite legally refuse to trade with you - certainly, no-one's going to be in a hurry to deal with someone shouting I AM BRITISH YOU MUST EXCHANGE IT.


No wonder Brits are sneered at in Poland if you're anything to go by.

Brits are generally treated with respect in Poland - except when you meet nutters interested in history!

Didn,t say anything about Brits living in PL, and as for tourists, it,s not the Brits who give a toss, it,s the Poles when they lose revenue from our good people.


That,s why trading with Poles is an uphill task. Attitude !!


Don,t get these sort of jobsworth problems in the UK, and Poles sneer at themselves more often than not. " k***a " is all you hear, every second word.

Most people are sensible enough to not go abroad with rotten, tatty notes. Or they're sensible enough to take a bank card or exchange money before they go. Quite frankly, if you're trying to exchange money, you should expect that they won't accept anything but notes in a decent condition.

Would you really accept 1000PLN of badly torn, written on notes from a UK bureau de change? I wouldn't!


Or more accurately, people in Poland aren't so desperate to do business with Brits with attitude problems. I won't deal with such people and I'm from the UK - what makes you think Poles are in any hurry to do so? They're quite happy to just lure all the industry from the UK anyway, making the UK less and less desirable to deal with.

Ever considered that there are cultural differences too to think about? A Pole wouldn't get very far in the UK with their direct, blunt way of speaking - likewise, the British approach to speaking frustrates many Polish people because they want us to get to the point now, not next week!


Hahaha, you must be kidding me. Indian call centres, jobsworth 'security guards' and plain idiocy runs riot in the UK these days. The amount of money wasted in the UK on non-jobs is astronomical - one read of the Guardians jobs section should tell you that there's plenty of utterly useless jobs going for large salaries, unlike in Poland.

Let's not forget how the flagship British institution, the NHS, is being ran by jobsworths these days.


Different to the average British chav how, exactly?

Among my friends, I very rarely hear Kurwa or similar - in fact, us Brits swear far more than they do.

I think you,re gong over the top. I think you have this the wrong way around.


We are talking about trivial pen marks on bank notes, not the British institution.


Get real !! Definitely wouldn,t want to be part of your circle.

Yes, when I had burnt a few $ notes, the Polish bank also refused to accept them. So I framed them and hung in the toilet, with a little hammer underneath and a note: In case of emergency, break glass.

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