More banknotes damaged by floods arrive at Banco de Portugal to recover
The Bank of Portugal said that the recent floods, due to heavy rains, had increased the number of banknotes delivered to be recovered and part of the value could be returned to their owners.
This Thursday, Banco de Portugal released the new edition of its podcast in which it informs that banknotes damaged by floods in homes and commercial establishments can be recovered with the banknote appreciation service of the institution.
Interviewed on the podcast, the cash operational area coordinator, José Luís Ferreira, said that “there is evidence that the recent floods in Lisbon have increased the delivery of wet banknotes” and that the central bank “waits for the floods that are occurring in the North of the country can also promote a service addition movement”.
Any citizen who has accidentally destroyed or mutilated banknotes (damaged by tournaments, burns, eaten by animalsamong other reasons) can send them to Banco de Portugal to be valued (they can deliver the banknotes at a BdP branch or send them by post).
For a euro banknote to be valued, more than 50% of the surface must be able to be reconstituted to be able to guarantee its security by the security elements (in the case of escudo banknotes, 75%).
If it is possible to sustain the banknote, it is destroyed and citizens are given the corresponding amount. On a 20 euro note, even if only half of it is visible, the 20 euro amount is credited to the account of the presenter or the rightful owner. If the banknotes are unrecognizable, they are considered lost, destroyed and the owner does not receive any explanation.
The banknote recovery service recovered 324,853 banknotes between 2002 and 2021, having refunded almost 12.6 million euros to citizens who had destroyed or mutilated euro and escudo banknotes and who, without this service, would have lost their money.
In the fires of 2017 alone, 4,022 banknotes arrived at Banco de Portugal to be valued.
All cases of destroyed banknotes that arrive at Banco de Portugal to be valued are reported to the Financial Information Unit of the Judiciary Police (PJ) and the Central Department of Investigation and Penal Action (DCIAP), in order to prevent crimes. When delivering the banknotes, citizens have to fill in a form with their data and the context in which the banknotes were destroyed. If cash has been deliberately damaged it is not eligible for replacement.