Re: In other news, the sky is blue. 
- Edit 1
- Edit 1Before modification by BlackAdder at 13/05/2010 07:45:23 PM
According to an article published by the BBC today, it's the banknote of choice for illegal activities. I'm quite glad to see my thoughts at the beginning of the Euro proved correct.
Everybody knew beforehand that would happen - as the article points out. Even 200 euro notes are hardly ever used (hell, even 100 euro notes are rare, at least in a country like Belgium with advanced banking systems that reduce cash transactions, your article suggests it's not that way everywhere).
Yeah pretty much. It doesn't make sense to carry/use cash in amounts that large.
Even in India it is becoming less necessary. 10K (~200 USD) and 5K INR notes are much less commonly used now that so many people have credit cards. And for small items (bus fare, rickshaw, etc.), you really can't use anything larger than 100 INR or even 50 INR if the price is really low since no wants want to give you change
Pretty much the only places that still deal actively with large currency notes (for legit activity) are places with lack of electronic payment systems.
A 500 EUR note in this day in age is just asking for trouble. Most people won't even touch 100 USD notes for everyday items in the US.