The Committee of Scottish Bankers, on behalf of the Scottish note issuing banks, Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank, and Bank of Scotland, has announced that all Scottish paper £20 and £50 notes are being withdrawn from circulation this month. Since 2015, Scottish issuing banks have been introducing Polymer notes into circulation. Polymer delivers significant benefits over paper, particularly when combined with state of the art security features which make the notes much harder to counterfeit. Polymer is also stronger than paper and so notes will last longer, remain in better condition and deliver environmental benefits. Scottish polymer notes now account for approx. 90 per cent of £20 and 50 per cent of £50 bank notes circulating in Scotland.
Polymer notes
A spokesperson for the CSCB confirmed: “Thanks to the work that the issuing banks have already undertaken to swap the older paper notes with the more secure, environmentally friendly polymer notes, the majority of £20 and £50 notes have already been replaced with polymer. The Scottish note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper based notes and there are currently no plans to change this.”
Issuing banks will continue to accept all Scottish notes from their own customers. These can be either deposited into their bank account or exchanged for polymer notes. Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale and Bank of Scotland have also agreed that they will exchange their own paper £20 and £50 notes from non-customers up to the value of £250, provided that photographic I.D. is presented. Other banks, building societies and The Post Office may continue to accept and exchange Scottish paper notes after the 30th September 2022. The withdrawal of Scottish paper notes coincides with the withdrawal of Bank of England £20 and £50 paper notes from circulation, which is also took place on 30th September.