Martin Lewis' MoneySavingExpert has issued a warning as time runs out to use paper £20 and £50 notes. The deadline is approaching until plastic notes will only be accepted, but millions of paper ones remain in circulation.
The latest figures from the Bank of England show there are £17.6 billion-worth of paper cash still floating around. But the MoneySavingExpert website - founded by financial expert Martin Lewis before he sold it on - warned shoppers to be quick, as there are only a few months left before they become invalid.
According to new figures published by the central bank in response to a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by BBC Wales, there are 360 million Bank of England-issued paper £20 notes (worth £7.19 billion) and 209 million paper £50 notes (worth £10.46 billion) still in circulation. But these notes will no longer be usable from September 30 2022.
Read more: Martin Lewis reveals exact date you must take energy meter reading this week
The same deadline also applies to £20 and £50 notes still in circulation that have been separately issued by various Scottish and Northern Irish banks - although AIB Group has said it will stop accepting these notes from June 30 this year. The move follows the release of new polymer versions in 2020, which were created to try to reduce counterfeiting. MoneySavingExpert has set out a list of ways to ensure your £20 and £50 notes don't become worthless and how to make old £10 and £20 notes and £1 coins spendable again.
How to ensure your £20 and £50 paper notes don't become worthless
Most people have three options to take to prevent this regardless of where the notes have been issued in the UK before 30 September 30 2022, according to MoneySavingExpert:
- Spend them.
- Deposit them into your bank account at your local bank branch or post office.
- Swap them for polymer notes at your bank.
How to make old cash spendable again following the deadline
The same FoI data by BBC Wales revealed there were 113 million Bank of England-issued £5 notes worth £566 million and 73 million paper £10 notes worth £726 million still in circulation, despite these being withdrawn in 2017 and 2018 respectively. You can get more stories like this by subscribing to our newsletters.
According to new figures from the Royal Mint, there are also £105 million old round £1 coins still in circulation. These lost their so-called "legal tender" status in October 2017, the MoneySavingExpert said.
Here's what to do with them:
- Your bank may swap or deposit old paper notes and coins. Banks don't legally have to accept old paper notes and coins once they've been withdrawn from circulation. However, some may continue to allow you to swap them, while others may let you deposit old notes and coins into your account. Barclays, Halifax, Lloyds, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander told MoneySavingExpert you can deposit old coins and notes into your account. PayPoint, which allows Monzo customers to deposit cash into their account, said customers will have to go to the Bank of England to swap old notes should they have them after the deadline.
- The Post Office will deposit old paper notes and coins into your bank account, which you can then withdraw. To do this, your bank will need to be signed up to receive cash deposits via the Post Office. You can check this on the Post Office website, although many major providers are signed up. You can't, however, do a direct cash swap at a post office.
- For notes only: If your bank or post office can't help, you can swap paper notes for polymer versions at the Bank of England. You can also do this by post if you don't live or work in London.
- Alternatively, ask a friend to help. Consider seeing if a friend or family member can ask their bank or post office instead. They can then transfer or hand over the money to you.
What about Scottish-issued £20 and £50 notes if you miss the deadline?
Scottish paper £20 and £50 notes, which were issued by Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland, will be replaced by polymer ones from September 30 2022, the MoneySavingExpert said.
It will be at the discretion of retailers and service providers as to whether to accept them after this, but they don't have to. So here's what you can do with these old notes:
- Your bank may swap or deposit old paper notes. Bank of Scotland and Royal Bank of Scotland will accept deposits from their customers of old paper notes issued by any Scottish bank, while Bank of Scotland will also exchange them.
- The Post Office will deposit old Scottish paper notes into your bank account, which you can then withdraw. To do this, your bank will need to be signed up to receive cash deposits via the Post Office. You can check this on the Post Office website, although many major providers are signed up. You can't, however, do a direct cash swap at a post office.
How to swap Northern Irish-issued £20 and £50 notes once they're pulled
Northern Irish paper £20 and £50 notes, which were issued by Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank Limited will be replaced by polymer ones from September 30 2022 the MoneySavingExpert said. But AIB Group (previously trading as First Trust Bank) will withdraw its current paper £20 and £50 notes from June 30 2022 – it said it is doing this as a response to the increase in online banking.
Again, it's at the discretion of retailers and service providers as to whether to accept notes after these deadlines, but they don't have to. Here's what to do with them:
- Your bank may swap or deposit old paper notes.
- The Post Office will deposit old Northern Irish paper notes into your bank account, which you can then withdraw
To get the latest email updates from WalesOnline click here.
