Business

Bank of England issues final warning about £20 and £50 notes

Published

4 years ago

September 16, 2022

Anyone still using paper notes with denominations of £20 and £50 has little over three weeks remaining before they are no longer able to make purchases.

The Bank of England has stated that the banknotes will only be in circulation for a further 14 days.

After September 30, the paper £20 and £50 banknotes that the Bank has issued will no longer be regarded as legal tender.

Even though the majority of the paper £20 and £50 banknotes in use have been replaced with new polymer versions, there are still more than £6 billion worth of paper £20 banknotes featuring economist Adam Smith and more than £8 billion worth of paper £50 banknotes featuring businessman Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt in circulation.

More than 300 million distinct £20 banknotes and 160 million paper £50 banknotes are in use.

The Bank initially issued the polymer £50 banknote with an image of Bletchley Park codebreaker and scientist Alan Turing a year ago.

The Bank of England’s chief cashier, Sarah John, noted in June that the recent transition from paper to polymer had been a significant advance since it makes banknotes more robust and challenging to counterfeit.

While most paper banknotes have been taken out of circulation, there are still a large number that are in use, therefore we ask you to check to see whether you still have any at home.

For the next 100 days, these can still be used or deposited normally at your bank.