A Cologne Edeka branch has banned the use of 500 euro notes. A Reddit user shared a photo of the notice in the subreddit “But please laminate” on May 4, 2016.
Some users defended the decision, saying that €500 notes “at all 'no longer printed. Curb counterfeit money,’ one user said, while another said: “People who can only pay €500 are excluded (... sad” – probably with a wink.) The post attracted a lot of attention on Reddit. Since it was posted three days ago, it has received nearly 450 thumbs-up reactions and been commented on over a hundred times (as of April 17), according to the Reddit site.”. The Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to stop the production and issuance of 500 Euro banknotes at the end of 2018.