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Just yesterday I went to a Forex bank branch (as I thought no other bank dealt with cash in Sweden) in an attempt to exchange a few 500 euro bills for kronas. And I could not, and the clerk said that in Sweden it is not possible to exchange 500 euro bills since 2018, and that the only thing to do is to go to a euro zone country (such as Finland). Is it true that in Sweden there is no way to exchange (or change) a 500 euro bill?

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While still legal tender in the Eurozone, since 2019 the 500 euro note is no longer issued by the European Central Bank, so it's getting harder to find merchants that accept them, and it was always inconveniently large from the beginning. Sweden is also, famously, the world's most cash-free society, which doesn't make things any easier.

That said, while neighboring Denmark has officially banned the use of 500 euro notes, as far as I can tell Sweden has not followed suit. So I'd suggest you ask/call around at other money changers and banks, and see if you can find somebody willing to accept it -- Forex is not the only game in town.

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  • I thought the only money changer in Sweden was Forex bank, but now I'll search for others.
    – sequence
    Oct 2, 2021 at 9:22
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    Try Tavex and Change Group/Change Money.
    – lambshaanxy
    Oct 2, 2021 at 9:26
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    There are independent places too, especially in ethnic areas
    – Anders
    Oct 2, 2021 at 9:48
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    Ages ago, I bought a new car in Germany with about sixty 500 DM notes.
    – gnasher729
    Oct 2, 2021 at 19:45
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As stated, the notes are not very common.

But let me classify that: they're not very common outside of criminal circles. They're mostly now used by criminals for large transactions (drugs, weapons, human trafficking). As a result most banks and almost all other companies reject them out of hand because they don't want to get involved in money laundering schemes. And that's if the employees in question even recognise them as many will never have seen one.

So yes, they are technically still legal tender in some countries but so uncommon that they're effectively useless. And Sweden not being in the Euro zone means they may not even be legal tender there at all, and if banks accept them they'd do it only as a courtesy (and then themselves have trouble getting rid of them).

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    Money exchange is not a courtesy, it's a customer service, and banks are renown for applying hefty fees for such service.
    – user45851
    Oct 4, 2021 at 7:52
  • @Rg7xgW6acQ3g yes and no. It's a service but as a courtesy they may extend that service to currencies and notes not normally accepted for whatever reason.
    – jwenting
    Oct 4, 2021 at 7:54
  • Just because something is common or not in criminal circles doesn't mean that inconveniences and obstacles should be created for non-criminal people. Then a certain part of the currency euro becomes pretty useless if it can't be used or exchanged. And yes, they also charge hefty fees and can't even render a complete service for customers. This is not high level service by any means at all.
    – sequence
    Oct 5, 2021 at 15:02

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