Bank Of England Issues Warning Over 500 Million £20 And £50 Notes That Will No Longer Be Valid

The Bank of England has urged people to use up certain bank notes before an autumn deadline when more than 560 million of them will become invalid.

In February 2020 the Bank of England introduced the 'new' £20 and £50 notes, which anyone who's ever accidentally put money through the washing machine will know to be much more durable than their paper predecessors.

The bank went on to withdraw the £10 and £5 paper notes, but there are still 569 million paper £20 and £50 versions in circulation.

On 30 September, the notes will become invalid, prompting the Bank of England to encourage people to use or exchange their notes before then. On its website, it explains: "30 September 2022 is the last day you can use our paper £20 and £50 notes. After 30 September 2022, many banks will accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers. The Post Office may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access at the Post Office. And, you can always exchange withdrawn notes with us."

A Freedom of Information request by BBC Wales revealed that £20 and £50 paper notes are not the only ones left in circulation, despite the others having since been withdrawn. The request revealed 113 million paper £5 notes remain in circulation and 73 million paper £10 notes, as well as £105 million worth of old one pound coins.

If you happen to stumble upon an old £5 or £10 note in your home don't worry about the fact they are no longer a legally accepted means of payment, as the Bank of England will still exchange the notes for new ones.

A spokesperson told BBC News that 'all genuine Bank of England banknotes that have been withdrawn from circulation retain their face value for all time'.

Anyone looking to get rid of old notes can post them to the bank in Threadneedle Street, in the City of London, where they can be paid into a bank account, by cheque or, 'if you live in the UK and your exchange is worth less than £50', swapped for the new notes.

Old notes can also be exchanged in person, but the bank has warned of 'long queues and waiting times up to an hour'. If you have a UK bank account, the quickest way to get rid of old notes is to simply deposit them with your bank.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Money, UK News, London

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.