$100 bills, do you see them often, do you use them?

[mnrose]

Saw one yesterday. I volunteered a city recycling event, and someone gave me $100 bill for a $69 charge. I rarely get them myself to use....although I have.

 

[DLgal]

When you use an ATM in Vegas, they give you 100 dollar bills, I hate it, Im more of 20 dollar bill guy

I kind of like it there. Less bills to take up space in my wallet.

 

[disneychrista]

I see them regularly as part of my job. I have some stashed away for an "emergency."

 

[ronandannette]

He didn't say they only had 100s. I am assuming if people choose to withdraw an even hundred (or couple hundred) the machine will spit out hundred dollar bills, otherwise it will dispense 20s.

I must have misunderstood then, but in my own defense it did seem like he was juxtaposing the machines with $20s against the ones at the grocery store. Why mention the grocery store could break the large bills if smaller ones were also available?

 

[MillauFr]

I guess I don't understand why people use cash? You get no discount for using it. At least when I pay with credit cards I get 2% refunded of every purchase.

 

[jdb in AZ]

We have an emergency stash of cash in $100 bills in our freezer. We refer to it as cold hard cash. When we give cash to an adult grand kid for a birthday or Christmas we refer to it as a green picture of a dead president. Yeah, I know Benjamin Franklin wasn't a president, but the grand kids sure like pictures of him.

 

[morgan98]

I just about never carry cash and if I do, it is because I took out $20 after check out at the grocery store.

$100 bills always make me smile though, as my grandparents regularly put them in birthday cards and Christmas cards.

 

[SirDuff]

I work in Switzerland and totally normal to see 100 CHF notes used (USD is pretty much equal to CHF). People use a lot more cash here than in the US/Canada (based both on my observations and things I've read). In fact, they now make a 1,000 CHF note (for reference, the highest bank note in the US is $100). For interest, it is the second highest worth bank note in the world (Burnei has one worth more).

 

[Toolulu22]

My husband is old school and does not like to use a debit card, though he has one. He also runs a service business where people pay him in cash or check. So yes, he often pays in cash- occasionally a 50 or 100- especially when we travel.

 

[Kathryn Merteuil]

When I worked on the teller line I saw and handled many of them every day. The ratio of deposited vs withdrawn, I saw more deposited. I guess that was true for everything in general, always had a lot more "incoming" than "outgoing", except for coins. For my own personal use, I do not use $100's...I do not carry cash in general. I just use a debit card, and get cash out only on an as needed basis.

In regards to counterfeits, I have seen a few... some pretty good, others not at all. Our counting machine would detect counterfeits (well nothing is foolproof). Old bills would always trigger counterfeit on our machine. I would say MOST counterfeits can be spotted fairly easily. First of all, they something just looks "off" about them. Second, they just don't "feel" right. Also there are things that real bills you need to see (like the face) when you hold it at an angle. We also had those pens, but rarely used them. We used that only if we were really scrutinizing a bill. I have seen a counterfeit $5 before. I had to wonder who in the world would risk prison for such a small bill, but it happens.

 

[kdonnel]

I remember being surprised a few years ago when I learned how many of Walmarts transactions are still cash. A few years ago it was over 40% and that was part of their reason for being a major player in the creation of the CurrentC digital wallet which failed. Walmart knew that eventually more of those cash transactions would transition to some form of digital payment and they wanted to be the one collecting the interchange fees instead of paying them.

In the last survey the FDIC found that 6.5% of Americans do not have a bank account. I am not sure if that survey accounts for those here without documentation necessary to open a bank account. In either case that is a large chunk of people who's transactions will be 100% cash.

And then there is the legal marijuana industry. While legal in many states, it is illegal at the federal level so merchant banks will not do business with the industry. All transactions are cash.

As for why the $100 is the largest US bill in circulation, it is an attempt to make crime more difficult. The 500 Euro bill is the bill of choice for large illegal cash payments because it takes way less of them per dollar amount. Huge cash payments fit in an envelope vs a brief case vs a suit case vs etc. The 500 Euro bill is being taken out of circulation just like the larger US bills were removed from circulation.

Cash is a great way to budget. Load envelopes with cash on payday for various categories like groceries, gas, eating out, etc, and when the cash is gone you are done spending until the next payday.

 

[John VN]

$50.00 and $100.00 bills are for vacation usage with CC all other times.

I guess I don't understand why people use cash? You get no discount for using it. At least when I pay with credit cards I get 2% refunded of every purchase.

Some gas stations have a CASH price and HIGHER CC price that can be greater than the 2% off the CC gives. We have a DESIGNATED CC for gas that ALWAYS PAYS BACK 5%.

 

[design_mom]

My dad doesn't like shopping. Very often for my mother's Christmas and Birthday gifts, he'll ask my sister and I to go buy whatever-it-is for him, and he'll pay us back. He often pays us back in large bills. I really dislike having $100 bills. If I am paying for something that large, I usually just put it on the credit card (I don't like carrying that much cash in my wallet). And if I'm buying something small, I hate to pay for it with such a large bill. I usually end up waiting till I go to the bank, and just deposit it... but we don't have a physical branch of our bank very conveniently located, so I usually hang onto it for a while.

 

[Dan Murphy]

I use credit cards for almost every transaction, even a drive through coffee. I did get a number of $100 bills months ago at Costco when I used my annual rebate check to purchase several items there. I still have one sitting on the shelf in bedroom. Almost no cash used by me so no change back. I have no use for $100 bills. When I do visit an ATM, maybe every 3 months, all I get are $20's.

 

[mjkacmom]

My bank (chase) was always dispensing 100 bills at the ATM for close to a year (I’ll usua get $200). People must’ve complained because they went back to 20’s.

 

[UncleMike101]

Stealing credit card info has become has become fairly common since the criminals have discovered skimmers and how to hack transaction points.
So, I use cash whenever possible.
It's pretty hard to hack a $100.00 bill and a PIN number isn't needed to use one.

 

[smiths02]

I don't generally carry more than about $40 on me. I don't generally make purchases over $40 in cash. I do go to the bank every month and draw out enough cash for DH and I to have money in our wallets, etc. I always have to remember to tell them not to give me bills over $20.
A lot of places won't take the larger bills or treat you very suspiciously if you are attempting to pay with a larger bill, so I just don't bother.

 

[starry_solo]

I use them, but only when making somewhat larger purchases (in person) via cash.

 

[smiths02]

Stealing credit card info has become has become fairly common since the criminals have discovered skimmers and how to hack transaction points.
So, I use cash whenever possible.
It's pretty hard to hack a $100.00 bill and a PIN number isn't needed to use one.

The thing is, if your $100 bill is lost or stolen, it is gone. If my credit card info has become comprised, I can usually get it straightened out.

Also, the rewards as someone mentioned upthread.

 

[tvguy]

No, but they might be trying to withdraw the $40 they do have, which wouldn't be possible from a machine that only dispenses $100s.

It only dispenses $100 bills if you are withdrawing $100 or more.