Less than a week left for paper £20 and £50 banknotes
25/09/2022 14:52
There is now less than a week until the Bank of England withdraws legal tender status of paper £20 and £50 banknotes after 30 September 2022. After this date, you should no longer accept these banknotes as payment from customers.
All polymer banknotes carrying a portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II remain legal tender, and you should continue to use and accept these as normal. A further announcement regarding existing Bank of England banknotes will be made once the period of Royal mourning has been observed.
If not done already, here are some things you should be considering ahead of 30 September:
1. Deposit any remaining paper banknotes
You may be charged more to deposit these after 30 September.
2. Update your machines
Ensure you know which cash handling machines are being used in your stores and check whether an adaptation is required from your supplier to make sure they will no longer accept paper £20s and £50s after 30 September.
3. Train your staff
Make sure they know not to accept paper banknotes after 30 September. References to paper banknotes are being removed from all Bank of England training materials, so you may want to obtain new copies of any that you use. The updated versions are all available free of charge on the Bank of England’s website.
Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes
Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland are also withdrawing their paper £20 and £50 banknotes after 30 September.
Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank/Northern Bank Limited and Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland will withdraw their paper £20 banknotes after 30 September. A later announcement will be made about their paper £50 banknotes.
AIB Group (UK) plc (previously trading as First Trust Bank in Northern Ireland) ceased issuance of banknotes on 30 June 2020. They advise that their banknotes should no longer be accepted as payment, but can continue to be deposited to bank accounts at a variety of institutions.
For more information about Scottish and Northern Ireland banknotes, please visit the Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers (ACBI).
The Banknote Checking Scheme
The Banknote Checking Scheme is free to join and means your business will stay up-to-date across banknote checking best practice, counterfeit threats and wider banknote news. Importantly, it allows the Bank of England to directly contact the person in your business who is best placed to act quickly on any emerging threats.
More information, including a link to join, can be found on the Bank of England’s website. The Scheme now covers more than 25,000 locations across the UK.