• September 26, 2022

Five more days left to use your paper £20 and £50 notes: Paper notes not valid after Friday Sept 30

LONDON Sept 26: Bank of England will withdraw legal tender status of our paper £20 and £50 notes after 30 September 2022.

If you have any paper £20 or £50 notes, Bank of England encourages you to use them or deposit them with your bank or Post Office before 30 September 2022.

As paper notes are returned to the Bank of England, they are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring JMW Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.

After 30 September, only polymer notes will have legal tender status.

What to do with paper notes after 30 September

Once the 30 September 2022 deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to use Bank of England paper notes in shops, or use them to pay businesses.

After this date, many UK banks will accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers. Some Post Offices may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access with them.

The Bank of England will always exchange any withdrawn notes, including paper notes we have withdrawn in the past.

The public can swap their notes at any of their branches including the Post Office and other high street banks. The paper notes will then be swapped out for new, polymer versions.