Range of services for customers other than cash management business partners (non-business clients)

For non-business clients, the Bundesbank offers cash-related services for the settlement of small-scale transactions. However, given that the minimum requirements applicable for transactions effected by business clients do not apply to non-business clients, the range of cash-related services available to these customers is limited.

General information on the settlement of transactions with the general public (non-business clients)

The Bundesbank – like credit institutions – has a legal obligation to carry out checks when settling transactions and to keep records of these. To avoid unnecessary processing delays, customers from the general public should be able to prove their identity by presenting a valid form of official ID (e.g. ID card, passport). If proof of the origin and/or right of disposal of the submitted funds exists, customers should also be able to submit this if requested to do so to facilitate the settlement of the transaction. If the transaction cannot be settled immediately on a payment-versus-payment basis, customers can facilitate the later settlement of the transaction by providing bank account details (IBAN and BIC).

The Bundesbank allows non-business clients to carry out the following transactions:

Deposits for public administrations

The Bundesbank generally accepts payments from any individual to be credited to an account held at the Bundesbank by a public administration. This means that not only the account holder, but also any third party, in principle, is able to deposit funds into such a Bundesbank account, provided that the account holder is the final beneficiary of the payment.
Payments to accounts held at the Bundesbank are to be made using a payment slip (form 3179) or a neutral credit transfer/payment form obtained by the depositor from the beneficiary. In the case of pre-printed credit transfer/payment forms, it is important to ensure that the form is intended for use with a Bundesbank account, as the Bundesbank only accepts payments destined for accounts held with another institution if the customer is a business client.
A fee will be charged for deposits of this kind in accordance with the Bank’s price schedule (currently €4), which is to be paid immediately in cash upon submission of the cash deposit.
Example: a motorist can settle a fine in cash by effecting a payment – for a fee – to the account of the municipal administration office (Ordnungsamt) held with the Bundesbank.
If the account holder makes a payment to their own Bundesbank account, they may also use a delivery slip (form 3030-1). Unlike on a payment slip, it is not possible to enter payment reference information in this case. Submissions made using a delivery slip are, however, accepted free of charge provided that the account holder is not a business client (in which case other conditions apply).
Example: an employee working at the municipal administration office pays in the funds from fines that have been collected in cash to be credited to the account of the town treasurer’s office (Stadtkasse) using a delivery slip (without a payment reference ).
Exchange of banknotes and coins for other denominations
In principle, the Bundesbank allows any individual to exchange euro coins for euro banknotes or euro banknotes for euro coins and to exchange euro banknotes or coins for small quantities of different denomination(s).

Special procedures and regulations apply for business clients.

Business clients
Indefinite exchange of unlimited amounts of DEM banknotes and coins for euro
The Bundesbank no longer exchanges other euro legacy currencies for euro. These currencies can only be exchanged at the respective national central bank within the prescribed exchanged periods. Some of the exchange periods have already expired.
Central banks will exchange the legacy banknotes of new EU Member States only within the limited timeframes which have been agreed upon in advance by the central banks in the European System of Central Banks (ESCB).

Details can be found here:

DEM banknotes and DEM coins

Foreign exchange

Information on the settlement of exchange transactions

The Bundesbank reserves the right to set limits on the maximum number of banknotes and coins that it accepts depending on the current volume of customers and capacity restrictions at the respective branch. Any consignments of banknotes or coins submitted for exchange which exceed the maximum prescribed limits are only accepted against provisional receipt. The submitted banknotes and/or coins are counted at a later point in time.