Money not worth the paper it’s printed on as polymer takes over

MANY of us still like to keep a bit of cash under the mattress for a rainy day.

But the habit could leave some out of pocket as Britain switches completely from paper to polymer bank notes.

Pensioners have been warned to check their stash of emergency cash is not about to lose its value, with just 100 days left until all paper notes are replaced.

Nearly half a million £20 and £50 banknotes will cease to be legal tender on Sept 30 and will no longer be accepted in shops or businesses, the Bank of England has warned. The £5 and £10 paper notes ceased to be legal tender in 2017 and 2018 respectively.

Baroness Altmann, the former pensions minister, said the elderly needed to be aware that “the money you’ve got under the mattress, cash for emergencies, may not be spendable, because we are going to have new notes – they will be the legal tender.”

Tom Fyans, the director of campaigns and policy at CPRE, the countryside charity, said: “Many rural villages are now cut off, with no bank or post office and no bus service to the nearest town. Inevitably, this means there will be people holding on to paper bank notes that they will struggle to cash in.

“While this is unlikely to be a problem in well-connected urban areas, it’s yet another reminder that those living in the countryside are getting left behind.”

Sarah John, the Bank of England’s chief cashier, said: “Changing our banknotes from paper to polymer over recent years has been an important development, because it makes them more difficult to counterfeit, and means they are more durable. The majority of paper notes have now been taken out of circulation, but a significant number remain in the economy, so we’re asking you to check if you have any at home. For the next 100 days, these can still be used or deposited at your bank in the normal way.”

After the September 30 deadline anyone holding a UK bank account will still be able to pay the notes in, and some Post Offices may still accept them, the Bank said.

Growing inflation also means cash will erode in value more quickly, with prices rising at the fastest rate for 40 years. In May, the rate of inflation rose to 9.1 per cent, the highest level since March 1982, and the Bank has warned that it will reach 11 per cent this year.

There are still more than 300 million paper £20 notes featuring economist Adam Smith, and 160 million paper £50 notes featuring entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt, in circulation. It is a year since the Bank issued the first polymer £50 banknote, which features Bletchley Park codebreaker and computing scientist Alan Turing. The £50 note was the last denomination to switch from paper to polymer. The first was the £5 note featuring Winston Churchill. It came into circulation in 2016.