The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers (ACBI) has issued guidelines on the withdrawal of paper £20 notes from circulation.
The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers, on behalf of Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and Ulster Bank - has announced that there is now less than one week to go until all Northern Ireland paper £20 notes are withdrawn from circulation.
Polymer notes from Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and Ulster Bank have been circulating since February 2019. 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.
With this in mind, The Association of Commercial Banknote Issuers, is encouraging the general public to spend or exchange any paper £20 notes in advance of the deadline.
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A spokesperson for the ACBI confirmed: “Thanks to the work that Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and Ulster Bank have already undertaken to swap the older paper notes with the more secure, environmentally friendly polymer notes, the majority of £20 notes have already been replaced with polymer. We have set a deadline for using paper £20 notes as 30th September. The Northern Ireland note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper based notes and there are currently no plans to change this.”
Separately First Trust Bank confirmed in February 2019 that they would cease their own note issuance by 30th June 2020 and would instead dispense Bank of England banknotes or sterling banknotes of equivalent value. First Trust Bank banknotes remained legal currency until 30th June 2022.
Issuing banks will continue to accept all Northern Ireland notes from their own customers. These can be either deposited into their bank account or exchanged for polymer notes. Bank of Ireland, Danske Bank and Ulster Bank have also agreed that they will exchange their paper £20 notes from non-customers up to the value of £250, provided that photographic I.D. is presented.
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Other banks, building societies and The Post Office may continue to accept and exchange Northern Ireland paper notes after 30th September.
Source: Written from press release.
