Edinburgh customers that are still using cash to pay for their shopping have been warned to check for old notes as they will no longer be accepted.
If you use the wrong notes at shops like ASDA, Tesco, Aldi, M&S or Morrisons from September, your transaction will be rejected.
This is because old £20 and £50 notes will have been officially replaced by then, although banks will still allow you to exchange their old-style £20 and £50 notes after the September deadline the Manchester Evening News reports.
READ MORE - British tourist in Spain fumes at new 'six drink rule' he was unaware of
This only applies to Bank of England notes which are also in circulation across Scotland.
Chief Cashier Sarah John explained : “We want to remind the public that from today they only have six months left to spend or deposit their paper £20 and £50 notes.
“Over the past few years we have been changing our banknotes from paper to polymer, because these designs are more difficult to counterfeit, whilst also being more durable.
"A large number of these paper notes have now been returned to us, and replaced with the polymer £20 featuring the artist J.M.W. Turner, and the polymer £50 featuring the scientist Alan Turing.
"However if members of the public still have any of these paper notes in their possession, they should deposit or spend them whilst they can”.
The notes are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring J.M.W. Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.
The introduction of polymer banknotes allows for a new generation of security features which make them even harder to counterfeit.
It comes following similar banknotes for the £5 and £10 some years ago. The fiver was released back in 2016, featuring Sir Winston Churchill.
Sign up for Edinburgh Live newsletters for more headlines straight to your inbox
How to exchange old bank notes
On the Bank of England (BoE) website, there are instructions for those who may still be clinging on to old paper banknotes. You can look to exchange them at the following places:
- At your bank : The BoE says the easiest way to exchange notes is to deposit them with your bank. You'll need to visit your nearest bank branch in person to do this.
- At the Post Office : The Post Office may also accept withdrawn notes as payment for goods and services, or as a deposit into any bank account you can access with them.
- At the Bank of England: You can post old banknotes to the BoE and they'll then send you a cheque for the amount, or the equivalent in new polymer notes.
When did the old £5 and £10 get withdrawn?
The old paper £5 note - which was replaced by a new polymer version on September 13, 2016 - stopped being legal tender on May 5, 2017. As for the old £10 note - of which a new polymer version came out on September 14, 2017 - the cut-off date for using this was March 1, 2018.
