I withdrew $400 from a Bank of America ATM here in Orlando. Instead of the stack of $20 bills I would have gotten in the Northeast, I received three $100 bills (“Manhattan food stamps”) and five twenties.
Was this a one-time fluke or has BoA figured out that Floridians want to have $100 bills in their wallets more so than people in other parts of the U.S.?
The other place I know of where the default denomination is $100 is Las Vegas.
Pretty standard in Canada. Depending on the size of your withdraw, ATMs will dispense 10s, 20s, 50s, or 100s.
It’s happened to me at a BofA in San Francisco. I think it may depend on how many $20 bills are left in the machine, as that was in the evening.
It is based on more than the bills in the machine – knowing what I need in SF area I can go to a machine that will be all 20’s, 20’s and 50’s or 20’s and 100’s. My bank lets me set my profile to how I want them distributed. Northeast kind of old fashioned banking industry (ie none needed bailout in last crisis!).
Old people like larger bills.
I lived in Port St. Lucie, Florida in the early ’80s. At the time I liked to collect Mercedes Benz model year catalogs and there was a Mercedes dealer in Ft. Pierce just a few miles north of St. Lucie. One quiet Sunday afternoon I stopped in the dealership to see the new models and chat with the salesmen. He told me about the “many” Mercedes (450SL and 500SL) he sold, bought with a wad of cash by men under 30 yo. These cars were in the $40K range then. Think Florida, early ’80s, cocaine.
In NJ, I get $20’s from an ATM in one town and $50’s in the next town over.
Maybe, it’s related to the number of people using the ATM versus the opportunities to refill it.
All the ATMs I’ve used recently in Seattle dispense $100’s first and then $20 for the remainder… across many bank brands, my card refunds ATM fees. Maybe there’s a big push for updated ATMs happening all over the place – chip-and-signature (yeah, a joke) ATMs now require you to keep the card in the entire time and they’re now testing ones that use your phone instead of a card here.
I wish all ATMs were like Vegas casino ATM/bill changers, it’s nearly impossible to get a stack of $1 bills for tipping while traveling without visiting a teller.
Phil,
Off topic, but Wendy’s has the most ridiculous protocol in recent memory as far as cash is concerned: they do not accept one hundred dollar bills. I was actually refused food when I explained to the girl at the window that all I had were $100s. I asked her, with my four year-old daughter looking on from her car seat in the rear, if she was gonna opt to not sell me food and she said yes without hesitation.
Weeks later, I stopped at another Wendy’s in a different city and was told the same thing: we don’t take $100s! When I pressed for a real explanation other than the standard “we just can’t take them”, I was told it was a corporate decision because of the phony hundred dollar bills circulating. I pointed out the recent run of counterfeit 20 dollar bills that had received press in our area and asked how they could accept twenties but not hundreds?
Given the price of fast food now, this is one of the most ill-conceived moves I can ever recall. Or maybe I’m just part of a dying breed that still uses paper money?
@Mark
In case you aren’t being facetious, a phony Ben Franklin costs Wendy’s $80 more than a phony Andrew Jackson.
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I wish ATM’s gave $5 bills as an option.
@ScarletNumber
I was being sarcastic, but what I’d really like to know is exactly who discovers counterfeit money? The tellers I’ve experienced at local banks do not spend a lot of time examining bills.