Deadline to use Scottish paper £5 and £10 notes

Since 2015, Scottish issuing banks have been introducing Polymer notes into circulation and now account for approximately 80 per cent of £10 and 90 per cent of £5 bank notes circulating in Scotland.

The Committee of Scottish Bankers says it is now encouraging the general public to spend or exchange any paper £5 or £10 notes in advance of the deadline.

A spokesperson for the CSCB confirmed: “Thanks to the work that the issuing banks have already undertaken to swap the older paper notes with the more secure, environmentally friendly polymer notes, the majority of £5 and £10 notes have already been replaced with polymer.

“We have set a deadline for using paper £5 and £10 notes as 1st March. The Scottish note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper based notes and there are currently no plans to change this.”

The CSCB said issuing banks will continue to accept all Scottish notes from their own customers.

These can be either deposited into their bank account or exchanged for polymer notes.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale and Bank of Scotland have also agreed that they will exchange their own paper £5 and £10 notes from noncustomers up to the value of £250.

Other banks, building societies and The Post Office may continue to accept and exchange Scottish paper notes after the March 1.

The withdrawal of Scottish paper notes coincides with the withdrawal of Bank of England £10 paper notes from circulation, which is also on 1st March, 2018.