Posted by admin - June 3, 2016 8:48 am New £5 pound notes due in September

The Bank of England will be introducing a new £5 on 13th September which will be followed in 2017 by a new £10 note and a new £20 suitably timed for an issue date of 2020.

Why?

These new notes will be printed on polymer in a bid to help make money more secure, cleaner and more environmentally friendly.

The Bank of England’s website gives the following reasons for the change:

  • notes will be more resistant to dirt and moisture and will therefore stay cleaner for longer than paper banknotes
  • notes will remain more secure – the material allows the inclusion of ‘windows’ or clear portions in the design which enhance protection against counterfeits
  • notes will be more durable with the added benefit that the quality of banknotes in circulation will be increased (and could, perhaps, fair better if accidently put through a wash cycle)
  • polymer notes will be more environmentally friendly than paper

Sir Winston Churchill will replace Elizabeth Fry on the new fiver whilst Jane Austen should help encourage more ‘sense and sensibility’ perhaps with usage of the new £10 pound note; taking over from the previous occupant of the back of the £10 note Charles Darwin, in a new ‘evolution of species’, so to speak.

Timelines to be aware of:

2016

  • businesses will need to adapt machines for the polymer £5 note
  • full design and security features will be unveiled around three months before the issue date
  • businesses will need to train staff to recognise and authenticate the new £5 notes

2017

  • as well as a new tenner a new £1 coin will also be issued by the Royal Mint
  • businesses will need to adapt machines for the polymer £10 note
  • withdrawal of paper £5 note from circulation before introduction of the new polymer £10 note
  • the new polymer £10 note will be issued in the second half of 2017

By 2020

  • withdrawal of paper £10 note from circulation before new polymer £20 note is issued

For businesses who would like more information about the new polymer notes and how they need to prepare for this visit the Bank of England’s New Fiver website.