Yes, McDonald's in the UK can refuse a £50 note. While £50 notes are legal tender, businesses are not obliged to accept them and can set their own policies, often citing risks of counterfeiting or a shortage of change. Staff may decline them at their discretion.
This note replaces our paper £50 note which was withdrawn from circulation after 30 September 2022. You may be able to deposit withdrawn notes at your own bank or with the Post Office. Alternatively, you can exchange withdrawn banknotes with selected Post Office branches or with the Bank of England.
Is it legal to refuse cash? In the UK it is not illegal for businesses to refuse cash as payment and, in the same breath, it's not illegal for them to refuse card payments, either. The only situation where this isn't the case is when a business is accepting payment for a debt.
The fifty pound coin (£50) is a commemorative denomination of sterling coinage. Issued for the first time by the Royal Mint in 2015 and sold at face value, fifty pound coins hold legal tender status but are intended as collector's items and are not found in general circulation.
'It's a f****** £5 note!' Scot's fiver is refused in McDonald's - Daily Mail
Is cash in hand illegal in the UK?
The short answer is no—cash-in-hand payments are not illegal. However, things can get complicated if the right legal procedures aren't followed. While paying employees in cash may seem easy, employers and employees must ensure compliance with tax and employment laws.
Many self-service checkouts do not accept £50 notes due to concerns about counterfeiting and the need for high-value change. However, some newer machines, especially in supermarkets like Tesco, Sainsbury's, and Asda, do accept them, particularly if they have updated banknote validators for polymer notes.
Yes, there are £100 notes in the UK, but they are issued by Scottish banks (like Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank) and some Northern Irish banks, not the Bank of England, which stopped issuing them in 1945. These notes circulate alongside Bank of England notes and are legal tender, though they are less common in England.
It is not illegal to keep cash at home in the UK, but it should be stored securely to mitigate risks. The amount of cash to have on hand varies, but a small amount for emergencies is recommended while keeping most in a secure bank account.
The UK is rapidly moving towards being a low-cash, but not fully cashless, society, with digital payments dominating, yet cash remains crucial for millions, especially vulnerable groups, leading to government efforts to protect access via legislation, banking hubs, and ATMs, even as some businesses go card-only and digital ID plans emerge. While cash use has plummeted (less than 10% of payments in 2024/25), the Bank of England and officials stress that a completely cashless system isn't feasible or desirable yet, focusing on maintaining choice and access for everyone, including the elderly and low-income individuals.
Under the policy, cash totals ending in 1¢ or 2¢ are rounded down, while those ending in 3¢ or 4¢ are rounded up. Totals ending in 6¢ or 7¢ round down to 5¢, and those ending in 8¢ or 9¢ round up to 10¢. Customers paying with cards will continue to be charged exact amounts.
Yes, £50 notes are still in circulation, but the older paper version was withdrawn as legal tender in September 2022, replaced by the new polymer note featuring King Charles III and Alan Turing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bank_of England_%C2%A350_note, which is the standard circulating note now. You can still deposit or exchange old paper £50s at banks or the Post Office, and the Bank of England will always exchange them.
To put it abruptly, yes, shops in the UK can legally refuse cash payment. While cash is considered a legal tender, businesses have no legal obligation to accept it and have the right to set their own payment policies.
Zimbabwe 100 Trillion Dollar Note: A symbol of hyperinflation, rare due to its astronomical face value. 1891 U.S. Red Seal $1,000 Bill: Known for its unique design and limited circulation.
Though a gold three-dollar coin was produced in the 1800s, and the Bahamian dollar (which is pegged to the US dollar) has a $3 banknote, no three-dollar bill has ever been produced in the United States.
A fifty-dollar note is also known colloquially as a "pineapple" or the "Big Pineapple" because of its yellow colour. The $100 note is currently green and is known colloquially as a “watermelon”, but between 1984 and 1996 it was grey, and was called a grey nurse (a type of shark).
While there's no specific limit on home cash storage, amounts over £10,000 may require documentation during investigations or audits. If you can't explain where the money came from or why you're keeping it at home, it could be seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Cash deposits over $5,000 don't automatically trigger a government report. But they do put the transaction into a higher scrutiny bucket inside your bank. Tellers are trained to watch for patterns that look unusual for you. A single large deposit tied to a clear explanation rarely raises eyebrows.
Paying cleaners cash in hand may lead to tax evasion if the income is not reported to the tax authorities. Both the payer and the cleaner could be held liable for tax evasion if they fail to report the income and pay the appropriate taxes.
