The expiration date for old banknotes is approaching

In total, more than one billion francs are still in circulation. Many of them are also kept by elderly persons or by persons abroad. Not everyone is aware that the banknotes of the sixth series introduced by the SNB in the 1970s will lose their validity at the end of April 2020. The notes can’t even be exchanged with the Swiss National Bank after the expiry of this period.

To ensure that the value of this money is not lost to the national economy, the National Bank is obliged to donate the equivalent value to the Swiss Elementary Damage Fund. This has been in operation since 1901 and increases the balance sheet of the fund approximately every twenty years when an old series of banknotes lose their validity. The last inflow of capital from the SNB amounted to almost a quarter of a billion Swiss francs. It is to be expected that the next payout will be much more, since very few have returned their old money in recent years.

Therefore, if you do not want to donate your money, you should not keep your old banknotes. In circulation are still about a billion Swiss francs in old banknotes, which are often kept for sentimental reasons, are part of collections or are simply forgotten in an old wallet or in an old jacket.

The problem with the expiry date of banknotes is unique in Switzerland. In other countries, old banknotes are exchanged by national banks, regardless of how old they are. For example, in Germany still about 6 billion euro are in circulation. The German Mark has, of course, a nostalgic value since this currency no longer exists. Nevertheless, collections continue to maintain their nominal value regardless of how much time will pass. Most national banks have this approach.

In Switzerland, this decision does not depend on the National Bank. The rule setting a twenty-year deadline is defined in the Federal Law on the currency and the means of payment and can only be amended by the Parliament. There are already political initiatives for this, as it can be assumed that in the course of globalization more and more Swiss francs will be kept abroad, where information on the deterioration is not necessarily easily accessible to everyone. The Swiss franc would certainly benefit from a reversal as it is considered a currency of with a stable and save value as well as the SNB would as it is the issuer of this currency. Many politicians are opposed, however, since it is also assumed that, among other things, a lot of money from illegal sources from the seventies is kept in these old banknotes.

Links: https://www.fondssuisse.ch/de/fondssuisse