Damaged Hryvnia Banknotes in a Store: Which to Accept and How to Exchange Them at a Bank

A store, including an individual entrepreneur (FOP), must accept Ukrainian hryvnia (UAH) banknotes that remain legal tender and raise no doubts about their authenticity and payment status. Wear, a stain, or a tear alone is not grounds to refuse a customer. Do not give worn banknotes back as change: submit them with the proceeds to the servicing bank. If there is doubt about authenticity or payment status, suggest that the customer contact a bank.

A bank exchanges damaged payment-eligible hryvnia free of charge if it can determine authenticity and payment status without doubt. Complex damage requires examination by the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), while charred, fused, or dangerously contaminated banknotes require special handling. Reimbursement depends on the damage category and the assessment: a genuine banknote is not always payment-eligible, and retaining 55% of its area does not guarantee an exchange without other required features.

What a cashier must check before accepting a banknote

First check whether the banknote remains legal tender. Then assess its security features and damage. Compare the design and security features with the sample of the relevant banknote on the NBU’s official “About banknotes” page.

For cashier operations, it is important to distinguish three terms:

• A payment-eligible banknote is genuine and meets the NBU’s criteria for payments, crediting to an account, and exchange. It may be worn and unfit for further circulation. The right to exchange a withdrawn banknote does not mean it can be used to pay for purchases.
• A non-payment-eligible banknote is genuine but does not meet the established criteria. It cannot be used to pay for a purchase.
• A questionable banknote is one whose authenticity or payment status needs to be examined. A doubt does not mean the banknote is counterfeit.

Points 21–22 of NBU Regulation No. 148 require business entities to accept current payment-eligible banknotes of all denominations, including worn ones, provided there is no doubt about their authenticity and payment status. Separately, point 10 of Rules No. 134 expressly requires legal entities to accept banknotes with the signs of wear listed in subparagraphs 1–4 of point 8 of those Rules. The bank’s duty to accept and exchange banknotes under the ordinary procedure covers subparagraphs 1–10.

Do not accept banknotes stamped or marked “for exchange” or “non-payment-eligible” for goods. This kind of cancellation is different from an ordinary inscription or stamp impression. Specimen banknotes are also non-payment-eligible. This refers to specimens not intended for transactions, not to the year or design of an ordinary banknote.

Which hryvnia banknote designs a store may accept

Check the banknote design itself. Its print year alone does not determine whether it can be used for payment.

Deadlines for individuals do not replace the store’s separate obligation to submit its holdings for credit to its own account. If an entrepreneur finds pre-2003 banknotes among business funds, they should agree on the procedure with the bank: the deadline in Resolution No. 14 for 2003–2007 UAH 1–10 banknotes does not apply to them.

Withdrawal from circulation and the end of the exchange period are different stages. A withdrawn banknote can no longer be used to pay for goods, but may still be exchanged during the established period if it meets the NBU’s exchange criteria. After the exchange period set by the NBU ends, the banknote becomes invalid. A bank does not send invalid banknotes for examination.

How damage affects acceptance and exchange

Rules No. 134 list 17 signs of wear and damage to banknotes. The table helps identify which procedure applies. If a cashier cannot confidently determine authenticity or payment status, the bank must resolve the question.

The taping requirements below describe the NBU’s criteria. Do not use them as instructions for repairing money yourself: the bank checks the area and serial numbers and, if needed, reinforces the banknote to prevent further deterioration.

An ordinary paint stain and security dye from a special device have different consequences. A cashier should not try to determine the source of an unknown solution. If the nature of a stain or the security features raise doubts, suggest that the customer contact a bank.

Banknotes with manufacturing defects are also sent to the NBU for examination. The NBU prepares an examination report and determines their status. The bank reimburses the amount if the examination finds the banknotes payment-eligible, including banknotes with manufacturing defects that are deemed payment-eligible.

What the 55% area requirement means

For a banknote that has lost part of its area, area alone is not decisive. The bank checks authenticity, the type of damage, and serial numbers. Different conditions and procedures apply to one intact piece, two pieces with serial numbers, and two pieces without a serial number.

The retained area is determined using the grid in Appendix 1 to Rules No. 134. It has 20 cells along the length and 10 across the width of the relevant banknote design, for a total of 200 cells. The banknote or its pieces are placed reverse side against the grid, aligning retained edges and corners, tear edges, and the image. The pieces must not overlap.

The employee counts fully uncovered cells—H1—and partly covered cells—H2. The formula for the retained area as a percentage is: (200 − H1 − 0.5 × H2) ÷ 2. The result is rounded to a whole number. Under the method in this Appendix, holes in the banknote are disregarded.

Illustrative example: if a banknote leaves 80 cells uncovered and partly covers another 20, the calculation is (200 − 80 − 0.5 × 20) ÷ 2 = 55%. This area meets the minimum criterion, but the banknote is payment-eligible only if it has the other required features. A cashier’s or holder’s calculation does not replace the bank’s or NBU’s assessment.

How to organize cashier operations for worn hryvnia

A store owner should set out a procedure for cashiers and appoint an employee to submit the proceeds. This is a practical way to follow acceptance rules and avoid giving worn money back to customers as change.

1. The cashier checks the status of the banknote design and the banknote’s authenticity and payment status. They accept a current payment-eligible banknote regardless of denomination.
2. The cashier separates accepted worn banknotes from money set aside for change. They remain part of the proceeds received.
3. If there is doubt, the cashier explains that a bank must determine authenticity or payment status and suggests that the customer contact a bank.
4. The responsible employee submits accepted worn banknotes with the cash proceeds to the servicing bank.
5. If the bank accepts banknotes for examination, the employee keeps the documents issued and follows up on the result.

The rules governing banks’ withdrawal of banknotes do not give a store the authority to confiscate a customer’s banknote. If its authenticity or payment status is in doubt, the store may suggest that the customer contact a bank. Do not claim that the customer brought a counterfeit banknote unless an examination confirms it is counterfeit.

A store must provide its cash desk with banknotes and circulating or change coins for giving change, taking into account loyalty bonus programs and coin-accepting devices. Point 22 of Regulation No. 148 contains an exception for denominations whose minting and issue or additional issue the NBU has discontinued. If the NBU has established rounding because it discontinued issuing certain coins, the store applies the relevant procedure for rounding the total purchase amount.

Where to submit banknotes and when exchange is free

For ordinary damage under subparagraphs 1–10 of point 8 of Rules No. 134, a bank must accept banknotes for payments, crediting to an account, and exchange if there is no doubt about authenticity and payment status. Instruction No. 103 provides for free exchange of payment-eligible hryvnia that is unfit for circulation for individuals and legal entities without an amount limit. The bank performs the exchange when it accepts the cash, during operating hours or post-operational hours.

The NBU directly accepts banknotes for exchange or examination from individuals and legal entities under the relevant points of Rules No. 134 for amounts below UAH 400,000. This limit for applying directly to the NBU is not a limit on bank exchanges.

If the total amount of banknotes submitted is UAH 400,000 or more, the bank conducts the required customer due diligence, including establishing and verifying the customer’s identity and, if they act through a representative, the representative’s identity as well, under financial monitoring legislation. A check may also be required for a lower amount, including when establishing a business relationship, if there is suspicion, or if there are doubts about previously obtained information. Related transactions may also be considered together. An amount of UAH 400,000 or more alone, without the other conditions in Article 20 of Law No. 361-IX, does not mean that every transaction is a threshold transaction.

Before visiting, check with the bank for the cash desk address and hours, whether it accepts your particular damage category, and what documents are needed to verify your identity and, if applicable, your representative’s identity and authority. This is especially important for charred, fused, or dangerously contaminated banknotes.

The authorized banks listed on the NBU’s “About banknotes” page are Oschadbank, PrivatBank, Raiffeisen Bank, and First Ukrainian International Bank (FUIB). They must accept for examination banknotes damaged as described in subparagraphs 15–16 of point 8 of Rules No. 134. Other banks may accept them. Check the specific cash desk and its acceptance requirements before traveling.

NBU examinations are also free of charge. This does not mean that disinfection, decontamination, transport, or other related services are free. The NBU and banks may not issue unfit banknotes to customers.

What documents to get if the bank sends hryvnia for examination

A bank must withdraw and send to the NBU any banknote whose authenticity or payment status it doubts. It also accepts banknotes at the request of an individual or legal entity seeking the NBU’s assessment, even if no other cash transaction is being conducted.

For a request solely for an assessment, the person presenting the banknotes fills out an application under Appendix 25 to Instruction No. 103. It includes the applicant’s details, address and phone number, the amount in figures and words, denomination, year, and serial number of each banknote. A fire or other incident report is attached if available. For banknotes damaged as described in subparagraphs 15–16 of point 8 of Rules No. 134, the application is completed under Appendix 2 to those Rules.

The bank prepares a certificate of withdrawal or acceptance of banknotes for examination under Appendix 23 to Instruction No. 103 in three copies. It must include the bank’s and presenter’s details, amount, year, denomination, banknote serial numbers, date, and signatures.

The bank gives the customer one copy of the certificate and one copy of an incoming off-balance-sheet order, certified with the bank’s seal or stamp. The order confirms that the bank accepted valuables for examination; it does not mean that the bank has already credited their amount to your account. The presenter may decline the order copy.

Before signing, check the quantity, denominations, legible serial numbers, and your contact details. Keep the certificate and order until the procedure is complete. The bank may not return or temporarily hand over questionable banknotes to the customer before their status is determined.

The bank prepares the documents and packs the banknotes for shipment to the NBU. It draws up an inventory under Appendix 26 to Instruction No. 103, and a separate inventory for banknotes damaged during an emergency regime.

The bank arranges delivery to the NBU through the carriers or authorized persons provided for in the Instruction. The NBU checks the packaging and documents. If they contain discrepancies, the NBU returns the shipment to the bank for correction. The store owner does not prepare the bank’s inventory or arrange this shipment in the bank’s place.

Invalid banknotes are not sent for examination. Advertising or souvenir items resembling money are also not sent for examination if they do not imitate the security features of genuine banknotes.

Examination timelines and getting the result

Deadlines are counted in working days and start from different events. The date banknotes are accepted at a branch and the date they reach the NBU may differ.

Based on the result, the bank fully reimburses the presenter for the amount of hryvnia banknotes the NBU found to be payment-eligible. If the customer wishes, the bank lets them review the examination report and sign to acknowledge that they have reviewed it. The bank must inform you of the result within five working days after receiving it. The Instruction sets no separate payment deadline but requires the bank to fully reimburse the amount of banknotes found to be payment-eligible.

The NBU does not reimburse counterfeit or non-payment-eligible banknotes. To get back hryvnia banknotes the NBU found to be non-payment-eligible, make a request to the bank that accepted them for examination. The bank returns them on request within six months from the date they were accepted for examination. If they are not requested by the end of that period, the NBU destroys them.

The right to have banknotes returned does not apply to banknotes with security dye from a special device, those deliberately damaged for the purpose of a criminal offense, or those damaged during an emergency regime. Special procedures apply to them.

What to do with charred, fused, and dangerously contaminated banknotes

If banknotes are charred, deteriorating, or fused into a single group, do not separate them yourself. Preserving the remains matters for the examination. Likewise, do not try to clean, flatten, glue, tape, or take damaged money apart yourself.

For acceptance under points 14–15 of Rules No. 134, the presenter submits an application under Appendix 2. It states the presenter’s details and contact information, the circumstances of the damage, the quantity and amount of banknotes, their denominations, years, and serial numbers, if these can be determined. If gluing or fusion makes it impossible to establish the quantity and amount, the reason must be stated. The form allows a provisional valuation by agreement with the customer.

Details for transferring the amount of payment-eligible banknotes are completed by agreement with the customer. A report about a fire, disaster, or other event is attached if available; it is not a universal mandatory condition for every type of damage.

The bank or authorized bank does not examine these banknotes itself; it packs them to preserve their integrity as much as possible and sends them to the NBU. In the application, it records a provisional valuation of the quantity and amount as one hryvnia, and attaches an acceptance certificate and bank inventory. A provisional valuation of UAH 1 is not the reimbursement amount.

For a direct application to the NBU, in the presenter’s presence the NBU exchanges genuine banknotes if an intact part covering at least 55% of the original area remains. It also exchanges genuine banknotes that can be separated from one another if, before separation, their area was at least 55% of the original area.

If the group cannot be separated without destroying the banknotes, the NBU prepares an inspection report in two copies, with photographs of the group from above and from the side. A commission of at least two people prepares the report. It records the banknotes’ condition, retained remains, the determined quantity and amount, payment-eligible banknotes, and banknotes retaining less than 55% of their original area.

To examine an inseparable group, the NBU uses the application, acceptance certificate, and inspection report. The report is accompanied by the materials required by the form: a photograph or copy of an image of the group, a package with the remains, an inventory, and, if available, copies of the examination report and exchange order. The owner must not prepare this report or affix the banknote remains themselves.

Banknotes contaminated with substances that may harm health are accepted only with a disinfection and/or decontamination document. The document must be issued by an institution or person assigned the relevant functions by law. Agree on the procedure with the cash desk you choose; the exchange rules do not establish a universal service provider, price, or deadline for such cleaning.

As an exception, the NBU may exchange banknotes that show no signs of counterfeiting, lost payment features due to fire, disaster, accident, natural disaster, or household damage, and were accepted under points 14–15 of Rules No. 134. This is at the NBU’s discretion, so acceptance of remains for examination does not guarantee payment.

When the bank transfers banknotes to law enforcement agencies

Security dye from a special device

A special solution in a valuables storage device stains banknotes when someone attempts unauthorized interference. The NBU, banks, and cash-in-transit companies withdraw banknotes with this dye or characteristic contour staining and transfer them to law enforcement agencies for investigation and examination. This also applies to banknotes found while counting collected proceeds.

The bank prepares a special certificate under Appendix 24 to Instruction No. 103. The NBU exchanges genuine banknotes with security dye only for banks and legal entities that use the relevant special devices. They must provide documents showing use of the device and, if available, documents from law enforcement agencies or a court relating to those banknotes.

Damage during an emergency regime

In these Rules, an emergency regime means a special cash-handling regime. Household damage to money does not qualify as damage during an emergency regime solely because it occurred during wartime.

Banks and cash-in-transit companies withdraw such banknotes and send them to the NBU as questionable. If the examination confirms this category, the NBU informs law enforcement agencies and keeps the banknotes until they are transferred for investigation.

Rules No. 134 provide separate grounds for exchange. The NBU exchanges such genuine banknotes for banks that have its order to damage the banknotes and the corresponding damage report, in the condition in which the bank damaged them, without joining pieces together. Another stated ground is a court decision or ruling concerning banknotes found by examination to have been damaged during an emergency regime.

Signs of counterfeiting or deliberate criminal damage

Under the Rules, banknotes deliberately damaged for the purpose of a criminal offense include those assembled or glued or taped together from non-payment-eligible pieces of different genuine banknotes. They may also combine such pieces with parts of items resembling banknotes but without imitated security features, or with strips of ordinary paper. The bank checks the specific signs to determine whether a banknote that has been glued or taped together falls within this category.

If a bank finds two or more banknotes with the same signs of counterfeiting, banknotes deliberately damaged, or banknotes damaged during an emergency regime in one individual’s possession, it must immediately notify the local law enforcement unit. The transfer is documented in a transfer record listing denominations, details, and quantities of banknotes, along with details of the law enforcement representative and bank employees.

The bank informs the customer of the transfer within three working days if it has their personal information, and informs the NBU in writing. If a law enforcement representative does not arrive, no later than the next working day after notification the bank processes the banknotes as questionable for examination. It informs the law enforcement agency and, if it has the customer’s personal information, the customer in writing, attaching a copy of the withdrawal or acceptance certificate.

After examination, the NBU also informs the law enforcement agency about counterfeit banknotes, deliberately damaged banknotes, and banknotes damaged during an emergency regime. At the relevant unit’s request, it transfers the banknotes provided for in the Instruction to an authorized employee, documenting the handover in a transfer record.

Store liability for breaching cash transaction rules

An unjustified refusal to accept a current payment-eligible banknote or giving worn banknotes as change may breach the duties in points 21–22 of Regulation No. 148. If there is doubt about a banknote’s authenticity or payment status, the store may suggest that the customer contact a bank; that alone is not a violation.

Article 163-15 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses (KUpAP) provides for a fine of 100 to 200 non-taxable minimum incomes of citizens for an FOP or an official of a legal entity for violating cash transaction procedures—that is, UAH 1,700 to 3,400. If the same person commits the same violation within a year after an administrative penalty was imposed, the fine is 500 to 1,000 minimums, or UAH 8,500 to 17,000. For calculating these fines, one minimum equals UAH 17.

A fine does not arise automatically because of a complaint or disagreement with a customer. The tax authority must establish which rule the person breached and whether the violation was intentional or negligent. Not every cashier is an official: under Article 14 of KUpAP, an official’s liability relates to rules whose implementation falls within their official duties.

Cases under Article 163-15 are considered by tax authorities through authorized officials. The general deadline for imposing a penalty is no later than two months from the date of the violation, or, for a continuing violation, from the date it is discovered. Whether a violation is continuing must be established. If criminal proceedings are closed but signs of an administrative offense remain, a penalty may be imposed no later than three months from the decision to close them.

Official sources

• NBU Resolution No. 134 of 03.12.2018, “On Approval of the Rules for Determining Payment Features and Exchanging Banknotes, Change Coins, and Circulating Coins of the National Currency of Ukraine”: point 2; points 5–8, 10, 12–22; Appendices 1–3. Defines banknote categories, damage criteria, exchange procedures, special cases, and the return of non-payment-eligible banknotes.
• NBU Resolution No. 148 of 29.12.2017, “On Approval of the Regulation on Cash Transactions in the National Currency in Ukraine”: Section II, points 21–22. Sets stores’ duties for accepting money, giving change, and submitting worn banknotes to a bank.
• NBU Resolution No. 103 of 25.09.2018, “On Approval of the Instruction on Organizing Cash Operations by Banks and Conducting Payment Transactions by Payment Service Providers in Ukraine”: Section I, points 2, 11; Section VII, points 158–165, 167–169; Appendices 23–26. Governs bank exchange, acceptance for examination, documents, deadlines, and reimbursement.
• Law of Ukraine No. 361-IX of 06.12.2019, “On Prevention and Counteraction to Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds of Crime, Financing of Terrorism and Financing of Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction”: Article 11, part four; Article 20, part one. Sets grounds for customer due diligence and the threshold amount referenced by Rules No. 134.
• NBU Resolution No. 14 of 17.02.2026, “On Withdrawal from Cash Circulation of Banknotes in Denominations of 1, 2, 5 and 10 Hryvnias of the 2003–2007 Designs and Amendments to Certain Regulatory Acts of the National Bank of Ukraine on Withdrawal of Banknotes from Circulation”: points 1–6. Sets the end of acceptance, business deadlines for submitting remaining holdings, and exchange deadlines for individuals.
• NBU Resolution No. 116 of 06.08.2020, “On Completion of the Withdrawal from Circulation of Banknotes of All Denominations of Pre-2003 Designs of All Issue Years”: points 1–6. Sets the status of these banknotes and the exchange period for individuals at the NBU and authorized banks.
• Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses No. 8073-X: Articles 9, 14, 38, 163-15, 234-2. Sets liability conditions, fines, deadlines, and the authority that considers cases.
• Tax Code of Ukraine No. 2755-VI: Section XX, Subsection 1, point 5. Sets the non-taxable minimum used to calculate the fines described above.
• NBU: “About banknotes”. Provides official designs, information on banknotes in circulation and withdrawn designs, and the list of authorized banks.
• NBU: “Questions and Answers”. Explains that examinations are free of charge and describes reimbursement for genuine payment-eligible hryvnia banknotes.