Finland’s national bank has warned that not every automated cash machine in the country has been programmed to accept the new €5 denomination banknotes. The Bank of Finland says that since the new note entered circulation in May there have been lots of reports of it being rejected by self-payment machines.
The bank told the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) that technicians who maintained the machines would take some time to update all of them to accept the notes. Spokesperson Richard Brander stated on behalf of the bank that it did not know how many times machines had refused the new €5 bill.
Mr Brander said the bank was keeping an eye on the situation and said it hoped that the machines would be upgraded within a reasonable amount of time. He added that the bank understood retailers with payment machines did not make vast profits on them and they would probably not consider the upgrades were a priority.
Mr Brander continued by saying that although retailers had the right to decide which notes they accepted, it was important they did not reject €5 bills. He finished off by saying the bank was monitoring issues arising from the introduction of the notes in preparation for the arrival of the new €10.
Reports and blogs in some national media outlets have complained that self-payment machines at ABC petrol stations do not accept the notes. ABC has already issued a statement saying it will update the machines once the new €10 is released next year.