Rules for the professional return of euro cash

The OeNB’s Cash Services and Transport Unit handles large-scale cash deposits, withdrawals and exchanges for wholesale customers. Wholesale customers include e.g. banks and other business partners.

In order to carry out cash transactions with the OeNB, wholesale customers must sign a liability declaration (“Revers”). By making this declaration, they undertake to accept claims regarding returned banknotes, even if these are only identified after the cash has been handed over.

Wholesale customers must hold an account with the OeNB’s payment system ASTI (Austrian Settlement & Transaction Interface). All payment and accounting transactions are processed via ASTI.

Requirements for the return of banknotes

For large-scale cash deposits, banknotes must be prepared and sorted in accordance with the following established rules:

• Banknotes in denominations of EUR 200 and EUR 500 may be submitted in packets or bundles.
• All other denominations can only be returned in complete bundles.
• Banknotes must be sorted separately by denomination and series.
• Each packet must contain 100 sorted banknotes of the same denomination and series.
• Each bundle must contain ten packets. It therefore contains 1,000 sorted banknotes of the same denomination and series.

Labelling banknote bundles

To ensure unambiguous identification, banknote bundles must be labelled as follows:

• For bundles with currency straps, the company logo or stamp must be clearly visible, either printed on or affixed to the strap.
• For bundles without currency straps, a card containing the following details must be enclosed on the reverse side:
  • company name or company stamp,
  • banknote denominations,
  • number of banknotes contained.

Compliance with these requirements ensures that large-scale cash deposits can be processed efficiently, securely and in a traceable manner.