A new £5 note will be issued by the Bank of England in September, and will be followed by a new £10 note in 2017 and new £20 note by 2020. With months to go until the new fiver is issued, now is the time to start thinking about how you can make the transition as smooth as possible for your business and your customers, the bank says.
The new notes will be printed on polymer – which is the central bank points out cleaner, more durable, and more secure than paper – incorporating security features that make them more difficult to counterfeit. Polymer is a thin and flexible plastic material that fits into wallets and purses like paper notes. Other countries that issue polymer notes include Australia (since 1988), New Zealand, Mexico, Singapore, Canada and Fiji.
Victoria Cleland, the Chief Cashier, pictured, said ‘polymer – incorporating complex windows and sophisticated security features – delivers a leap forward in counterfeit resilience’.
The notes will retain the traditional look of the existing notes, with a portrait of the Queen on the front. Winston Churchill will feature on the back of the blue £5 note (out goes Elizabeth Fry), and Jane Austen on the back of the brown £10 note (goodbye Charles Dickens). The new notes will be smaller than the current paper notes.
All retailers and businesses that handle cash need to prepare, the bank adds. Customers will be using the new £5 notes from September and, before the new £10 note is issued in late 2017, the old £5 paper notes will have been withdrawn.
Machines that handle cash need to be updated; as the new notes are some millimetres smaller. The first step is to make sure you know which cash handling machines are being used by your business. Then you need to talk to your suppliers. For most machines, a software update will be needed.
Retail and other staff handling banknotes need to be trained to recognise the new ones. The Bank of England will be unveiling the full design and security features for the new £5 note around three months before the issue date, and training materials will be available; also an chance to remind staff how to check the security features on all notes. Separately, the Royal Mint plans to issue a new pound coin in 2017.
Background
The Bank of England has been issuing banknotes for over 300 years. These have evolved from handwritten paper notes signed by the Bank’s Cashiers in the 17th century to the paper printed banknotes containing complex security features.
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