Post Office anticipates rush to deposit old 20 and 50 notes in final week to spend

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https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/mon ... TO=newsnow

The Post Office is preparing for a “last-moment” rush in customers depositing paper £20 and £50 banknotes in its branches this week, before they can no longer be used in shops or to pay businesses.

Friday September 30 is the last day that the Bank of England’s paper £20 and £50 banknotes will be legal tender. After then, only polymer Bank of England banknotes will have status as legal tender.

So far, £1.2bn of paper £20 and £50 banknotes have been deposited at the Post Office’s 11,500 branches.

The total has been made up of £372m in paper £20 banknotes and £820m in £50 banknotes.

This month alone more than £100m in notes has been deposited at post offices.

The new polymer £20 notes feature artist JMW Turner, and the new polymer £50 notes feature Bletchley Park codebreaker Alan Turing.

Postmasters have their branches set up to handle large volumes of cash, with more than £3bn in cash deposited and withdrawn at post offices every month.

Martin Kearsley, Post Office banking director, said: “We’re fully aware that people lead busy lives and some may put off depositing their paper £20 and £50 banknotes until the last moment.

“Postmasters and their staff are on hand to provide that human reassurance that your old notes have been deposited into your bank account and will provide a receipt too. Most post offices are open long hours, including on Friday.”

Once the September 30 deadline passes and the Bank of England has withdrawn the legal tender status of paper £20 and £50 banknotes, people will still be able to deposit paper notes at their local post office and many UK banks will also accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers.