In Panama, the currency is the US dollar. The highest bill you will normally see is a $20. Many different sources have told me that no one trusts anything over $20 (not $50's, $100's, etc). At Banco General, the manager told me that even if they gave me 100 dollar bills, they wouldn't take them back (if I came in another time).
If you go to the bank and withdraw $1000 in cash, they will literally give you a stack of fifty 20 dollar bills (at least at Banco General). YOU CAN ASK THEM FOR CHECK INSTEAD IF YOU WANT TO AVOID THIS.
I saw a guy withdraw some money which had to be about $8,000. They gave him 2 HUGE stacks, which probably each contained 400 twenty dollar bills . On top of that, he just stuck it in his pocket (no envelope or bag) and walked out.
The funny thing I noticed is that a huge window sits right next to the teller counter, so anyone outside can look in and see the teller hand you a stack of cash!
If you want to feel like a drug dealer for a day, just go to Banco General and withdraw a chunk of money, and have fun walking around Panama worrying about all that cash in your pocket. :)
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