The present disclosure generally relates to a system and method of verifying a banknote. A computing system receives a first request to pre-approve a banknote. The first request includes one or more visual characteristics of the banknote. The computing system receives, from a second user, a second request to deposit a circulating banknote. The second request includes a representation of the circulating banknote. The computing system identifies that an account from which the representation of the circulating banknote originated is the first user account. The computing system compares the representation of the circulating banknote to the one or more visual characteristics of the banknote stored in the first user account. The computing system determines that the representation of the circulating banknote is equivalent to the pre-activated banknote by identifying the one or more visual characteristics of the pre-activated banknote in the representation of the circulating banknote.