Scotiabank Branches Not Ordering $10 Bills?

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As far as I know, the branch I deal with does order $10 bills, at least for the time being.  But they don't order them as often as the other four denominations.  I haven't done any over-the-counter banking with my branch much this year, though I will when the Polymer comes out.  I always thought Scotiabank branches frequently had new $10 bills, but apparently that may have been the case years ago.

I know that some branches of RBC, BMO, and some branches of other bank corporations don't order $10 bills, but what I ask is, anyone know of any Scotiabank branches elsewhere in Canada that do not order $10 bills?  I personally haven't heard of any where I live.

Most banks in general won't because they get enough of them in from circulation/customers that they have no need to. You have to also realize that ordering new notes requires a special order to be placed and will result in fees charged to the branch.

New bills are usually for occasions such as lunar New Year, or weddings etc.

I would expect the note orders for each branch to be decided on a branch-by-branch basis, not at the corporate level.  There's no sense in stocking lots of notes of a certain denomination if they're not needed.

That said, a decision to fill note orders with new notes vs. old notes could be made at a corporate level, but cost savings will likely impose a policy whereby orders are filled with circulated notes when available, and new notes otherwise.

But, I have nothing more than intuition to base that on.

New bills are usually for occasions such as lunar New Year, or weddings etc.

Yes, it does make sense.  There seems to be a correlation between occasions such as Christmas, Easter, and any other occasion where greeting cards or busy shopping occurs vs. crisp bills.

It seems as if the months that are most prone to banks ordering new money include:

• March or April (whenever Easter falls)

• September-October (maybe due to Halloween)

• December

With the most activity in new bills likely occurring in December, I think.

That said, a decision to fill note orders with new notes vs. old notes could be made at a corporate level, but cost savings will likely impose a policy whereby orders are filled with circulated notes when available, and new notes otherwise.

I guess, from what it seems, it might be cheaper to recycle banknotes than to order new ones, right?

I can see another reason why the bank I deal with seems to order new bills of small denominations less and less now.  Demand getting lower, and the fact that there is no need to issue new $5 and $10 notes as much anymore.

Interesting fact: all of the Scotiabank machines at Scotia Plaza in downtown Toronto have $10 bills. If you take out $800, it'll give you $200 in $10 bills. They also have machines that only issue $50 and $10 bills.

Interesting fact: all of the Scotiabank machines at Scotia Plaza in downtown Toronto have $10 bills. If you take out $800, it'll give you $200 in $10 bills. They also have machines that only issue $50 and $10 bills.

Wow.  I'm surprised that some ATM's still give out $10's.  Not one Scotiabank ATM dispenses $10's in my region, it seems.  Must be because demand for $10's is much higher in Toronto than where I live.

I'm even more surprised that there are some ATM's that don't dispense $20's at all.  Besides the fact, $50 and $10 bills are not frequently spent - at least where I live.

I also realized something...

If there are banks that do not order $10 bills all the time, I wonder if they only order them during peak shopping periods (Easter, Christmas, and summer vacation/wedding season), and otherwise those banks rely on customer deposits for having $10 bills on hand?  That may explain why the banks get far less crisp $10 bills per year now as opposed to 2010 or most of 2011.

I did notice that the number of $10 bills in circulation where I live has gone down - possibly quite a bit - since the fall of 2011.  In 2010, I saw two $5 bills in my change about 80% of the time.  Now it seems to be 95% of the time that I get two $5 bills in my change.  Either the cashiers don't have $10's, or the number of $5's in their tills outnumbers the $10's greatly, despite the number of $5 bills in circulation across Canada is going down now.

I think the main reason why there were so many $10 bills in circulation before 1990 is more because of certain items such as certain clothing items/accessories, vinyl records, 8-track tapes, audio cassettes, and Super Loto tickets (the predecessor to Lotto 6/49) - the latter 4 of those items of which are now obsolete, thus pushing demand for the $10 bill in a deeper decline.  Plus the $5 bill was continuously rising in demand at that time.

I remember watching a Game Show Network rerun of a 1989 episode of Sale of the Century recently (anyone remember that show?), and according to a question Jim Perry (the Canadian-born host) asked, I learned that compact discs outnumbered sales of vinyl records around that time.  Compact discs have been demand for the $20 bill all this time, it seems.  That kind of made me wonder if the $10 bill was starting to lose its purchasing power in the late 80's and not during the early 90's recession?

I remember watching a Game Show Network rerun of a 1989 episode of Sale of the Century recently (anyone remember that show?), and according to a question Jim Perry (the Canadian-born host) asked, I learned that compact discs outnumbered sales of vinyl records around that time.  Compact discs have been demand for the $20 bill all this time, it seems.  That kind of made me wonder if the $10 bill was starting to lose its purchasing power in the late 80's and not during the early 90's recession?

Oh yes, $ale of the Century is vivid in my mind.  Jim Perry also hosted Definition, which aired on CTV.

Interesting thoughts.  I for one have noticed a slight increase in $10's actually.  About 7-8 years ago I would always notice cash drawers with big stacks of $5's and $20's and just a couple $10's, if at all.  I rarely get three $5's when my change is > $15.  In fact on one recent purchase, the cashier was out of $5's and had plenty of $10's and $20's.

Interesting thoughts.  I for one have noticed a slight increase in $10's actually.  About 7-8 years ago I would always notice cash drawers with big stacks of $5's and $20's and just a couple $10's, if at all.  I rarely get three $5's when my change is > $15.  In fact on one recent purchase, the cashier was out of $5's and had plenty of $10's and $20's.

The number of $5 bills where I live may be going down, but they are still plentiful.  Where I live, it's a booming economy, cost of living is so high, and there is more demand for $20 bills and larger and lower demand for not just $10s, but $5s as well.

Yep, an increase in $10s is happening, but probably only in certain provinces.  Definitely not mine for sure.  When I get change of $15 or greater, 95% of the time it's multiple $5s.

Maybe there will be an increase in $10 bills coming my way someday, if not soon.  If inflation continues out my way, there will be an increase in $10s, and the $5 will fall in decline (but not to the extent of current $10 bill levels).

There are a lot of $5 bills out my way, but a lot of them are worn down and recycled.  Maybe the banks are collecting those $5s from deposits, sending them back, and just retiring them, not replacing them at all.  I have a feeling that, when the Polymer $5 bill comes to my province, there will be fewer of them to deliver out my way than there were with the current paper $5 bills in 2006-2007.

Ordering of notes is done on a branch by branch basis (doesn't matter which Bank) and there is no "corporate" decision involved.
The bills ordered by your bank are basically all now handled by an outside source such as Brink's and the decision as to whether they are filled with new or used notes simply depends on what is in stock.....if they have to draw notes from the Bank of Canada to fill orders then chances are these would be new notes. It's just that simple....no "corporate" mastermind involved!
The "corporate" type decisions are ones where local ATMs probably only dispense $20 notes as the machine(s) can then hold more $$ value than if they also held $10s and therefore requires less frequent service to restock. It's just a cost saving measure, period.

This from a very recent BoC publication on bank note distribution found at:

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/article_oct2011.pdf

Across the country there are ten regional distribution centres where  financial institutions hold inventories of cash from the Bank of  Canada, evaluate note quality and manage the flow of notes.

For example, during holiday periods when the demand for cash peaks,  if one financial institution has an immediate need for bank notes  while another in the area has a surplus, they can swap notes among  themselves.

Transfers like this are arranged through a sophisticated inventory management system.

At the distribution system’s core are two Bank of Canada operations  centres in Montréal and Toronto. They receive notes and evaluate  their condition. This process involves sorting notes into two  categories: those in good shape are given the green light to continue  circulating, while those that are too worn or damaged get the red  light—their journey ends here

For those interested on distribution of banknotes there is a nice video that in on BoC website that provides good insight into the distribution system.

Follow the link below and scroll down to the bottom:

http://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/bank-note-videos/

I have found that one branch of a certain bank can order a crisp note bundle for me for a price. However many other branches of the same bank have no clue how to do it.

So it would seem to me that there is no particular reason for preference over 5's or 10's other than what the customers at the branch level determine the need to be.

I've been Googling for blogs/forums in search of information about banks possibly having discontinued ordering $10 bills, and I stumbled across this very interesting thread, and after I heard a comment on another forum regarding the new $10 bill recently, I thought I'd share this information with you folks.

According to the user, there were Scotiabank ATMs that used to dispense $10 bills somewhere in Toronto, but it is said they were all replaced with those new Smart ATMs, which dispense all denominations for bills except for $10 bills.  As far as I know, Scotiabank ATMs in NL had not dispensed any $10 bills since 1998 (except for the one in Empire Theaters in the Avalon Mall, now rebranded as Scotiabank Theatre - but the ATMs were replaced by the independently-owned types in 2002), so they were already way ahead of the game.

This is probably hinting that, after such a long run, Scotiabank is finally jumping on the bandwagon with most other banks across the nation and most likely no longer orders $10 bills, if the banks have not phased out $10 bills entirely yet.

As of this morning, CIBC, Royal and TD main branches in Regina all had very limited supplies of the new $10s.

As of this morning, CIBC, Royal and TD main branches in Regina all had very limited supplies of the new $10s.

So we now know that the new $10 bill is available in Ontario and Alberta as of this post.  It wouldn't shock me if the new $10 bills will only be ordered by some banks in provinces that have a solid economy, which Atlantic Canada is not.

Picked up 10 consecutive FTY the other day from local BNS. Said they had lots more.