One of the world’s biggest banknotes – Switzerland’s SFr1,000 bill – is here to stay, the central bank has said, despite European Union moves to end its highest denomination note to keep it out of the hands of militants.
European finance ministers last week called on the European Central Bank to look at ways of tightening security around the use of the €500 bill, over fears such a high-value note made it easier for terrorists and criminals to both launder and carry cash.
But the Swiss National Bank (SNB) said there were no plans to follow Europe’s lead over its SFr1,000 bill, worth more than £700 or $1,014. The biggest US denomination note is the $100 bill.
The spokesman said the bank believed that the size of a banknote had no impact on efforts to combat crime.
Few Swiss have seen one of the violet SFr1,000, the latest version of which features the portrait of 19th-century cultural historian Jacob Burckhardt.
According to SNB figures, SFr38.3bn of them were in circulation in 2014, just under 10% of Swiss banknotes but 61% of the total value of cash in paper form.
“The high proportion of large denominations indicates that banknotes are used not only as a means of payment but also to a considerable degree as a store of value,” the SNB website explained.
One Swiss banking source said they had seen recent signs of people hoarding SFr1,000 notes as a reaction to negative Swiss interest rates, which make banks and large institutional investors pay for some deposits.
The SNB has said it has no data to confirm this.
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