29th September deadline to use all paper £50 & £100 notes

The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers (ACBI) issues guidelines on the withdrawal of all remaining paper £50 and  £100 notes from circulation

29th September 2023 set as deadline to use Northern Ireland paper £50 and  £100 notes and Scottish paper £100 notes
The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers, on behalf of, Bank of Scotland, Bank of Ireland UK, Clydesdale Bank, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ulster Bank - has announced that there is now less than one week to go until all Northern Ireland and Scottish paper notes are withdrawn from circulation. This will mark a significant milestone in the transition to polymer bank notes.

Polymer notes were introduced and have been circulating since 2015. 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.

The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers, is encouraging the general public to spend or exchange any paper notes in advance of the deadline.

A spokesperson for the ACBI confirmed: “Thanks to the work that the Banks have already undertaken to swap older paper notes with more secure, environmentally friendly polymer notes, the majority of paper banknotes have already been replaced with polymer banknotes.
“We have set a deadline for using paper notes as 29th September 2023. The Northern Ireland and Scottish note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper-based notes and there are currently no plans to change this.”

Advice to customers and non-customers for exchanging notes.

Issuing banks will continue to accept all notes from their own customers. These can be either deposited into their bank account or exchanged for polymer notes.
Other banks, building societies and The Post Office may continue to accept and exchange paper notes after 29th September 2023.

Please see press release for further information