Are all self service machines in the supermarkets programmed to take all UK bank notes?
Posted by LondonKiwi66@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 17 comments
Are the self service machines in the supermarkets programmed to English, Scottish and Northern Irish bank notes?
Koda614@reddit
Co-op’s machines in England accept Scottish notes. Morrisons however don’t - Including their store in Berwick which is about 2 miles from the Scottish border!
StockKick4984@reddit
Not all, but all major supermarket ones are
GasQuirky3938@reddit
They probably are although Scottish and Northern Irish banknotes are not legal tender in England & Wales.
Most places accept them though having given the note a perplexed stare.
Jturnster89@reddit
It would be helpful if they taught it in school. But alas, you have to put up with fellow redditors being ever so slightly smarmy when they explain it (or in some cases, just tell you you are wrong without actually explaining why)
GasQuirky3938@reddit
I do the same thing to others so I can't be annoyed when I get pulled up.
DameKumquat@reddit
Legal tender has nothing to do with it (thats to do.with payment of debts.) They are perfectly legal currency but that doesn't mean anywhere has to accept them.
Supermarket self-checkouts generally take Scottish ones, so presumably take NI ones too - but I wouldn't be surprised if sometimes new notes aren't yet recognised.
GasQuirky3938@reddit
That'll teach me to double check what Google tells me!
YetAnotherInterneter@reddit
Legal tender doesn’t mean what most people thinks it means.
https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/explainers/what-is-legal-tender
Legal tender specifies what must be used to repay a debt where there is no contract specifying another form of payment. In practice this means paying court orders.
Legal tender is NOT what a shop must/only accept as a form of payment.
Shops are free to accept and decline whatever form of payment they like. They can accept or decline Scottish banknotes just as much as they can accept or decline English banknotes.
If they wanted they could accept any other currency like Euros or Dollars. There is no law specifying what currency shops in the UK must or must not use. So long as both parties agree to the trade, it is legal in the eyes of the law.
They could even choose to accept Pokémon cards as a form of payment if they wanted to!
Colloidal_entropy@reddit
No bank note is legal tender anywhere in the UK for a transaction where you're using a supermarket self service checkout.
juanito_f90@reddit
Yep.
The amount of people who don’t understand what *legal tender* is actually used for (and its definition) is equally hilarious and frustrating.
soulsteela@reddit
Ours are card only.
sowmyhelix@reddit
Not all. The ones near us don't take Scottish notes. You have to use a cashier checkout for that.
SnooDonuts6494@reddit
No. Some might, but it's pot luck.
I advise you ask a member of staff before doing your shopping. They'll probably swap it for you.
StrangeWall9943@reddit
maybe, but a lot of fraud happens with fake scottish notes due to people being unfamiliar with them so most supermarkets will tell you to use the self service, doubly so if you are asking for a straight swap
EndPsychological2541@reddit
I can't speak for all of them.
But some of them are.
xanthe-g@reddit
I have used scottish bank notes on english self service machines and not had a problem yet
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