Splash cash to beat paper note deadline

THEY could mistakenly be lost down the back of a sofa or even crumpled and forgotten at the bottom of a drawer.

But now is the time to dig out any Scottish £5 or £10 paper notes as they will soon be phased out for good.

In just over three weeks, from March 1, the notes will no longer be accepted as legal tender as they are replaced by the plastic versions.

The Committee of Scottish Bankers (CSCB) is urging people to either spend the cash or pay it into their bank account, and has issued guidelines on the withdrawal of the paper notes.

The CSCB works on behalf of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Clydesdale Bank and Bank of Scotland.

Around £87.2million worth of paper £10 notes and £41.6million of paper £5 notes are still being used.

Scottish banks have said they will accept pay-ins from their customers. People who are not customers of the banks will be able to exchange up to £250 of the old notes.

Some banks and buildings societies, as well as Post Office counters, will still continue to accept notes beyond the March 1 deadline.

A CSCB spokesman said: ‘Thanks to the work that the issuing banks have already undertaken to swap the older paper notes with the polymer notes, the majority of £5 and £10 notes have already been replaced.

‘We have set a deadline for using paper £5 and £10 notes as March 1.

‘The Scottish note issuing banks will continue to accept old paper notes and there are currently no plans to change this.’

They said retailers might accept the paper notes beyond the deadline, although they can choose to refuse them.

The CSCB says the plastic money has significant benefits over paper notes, with increased security features making them much harder to counterfeit.

It also says the polymer money is stronger than paper and the notes will last longer and remain in better condition.

The withdrawal of Scottish paper notes will coincide with the withdrawal of Bank of England £10 paper notes from circulation on the same date.

The English notes, which were introduced in November 2000, have also been replaced by a polymer version.

Last year, the round pound coin was withdrawn from circulation, having been replaced by the 12-sided version.

It was introduced by the Royal Mint to help crack down on counterfeiting, with one in 30 of the previous version estimated to be fake.