The new way to pay with plastic

     By the Bank of England’s Agent for Greater London Peter Andrews.

These days most of us are used to paying with ‘plastic’.  And now it is true even for some of the purchases we make with cash.

On September 13, a new £5 note featuring the image of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill entered circulation. In doing so, it made history as the first Bank of England note made out of polymer — a thin and flexible type of plastic — which means it will be cleaner, safer and stronger.

Ever since the Bank of England was established in 1694 to raise money for King William III's war against France, bank notes written or printed on paper have become a feature of everyday life.

They have changed a fair bit in that time. For example, in the early 20th century, notes were issued by the Bank of England’s network of regional branches, the forerunners of the Bank’s modern-day agency network.

Since 1970, Bank of England notes have also featured historic figures including Isaac Newton, Florence Nightingale and William Shakespeare.

The new fiver celebrates the achievements of another great British figure, Sir Winston Churchill, and features a portrait taken from a photograph taken by Yousuf Karsh in 1941, along with a view of Westminster and the Elizabeth Tower from the South Bank, looking across Westminster Bridge.

But — for all the tradition and iconography — in these days of credit and debit cards, contactless payments and digital currencies, you might be wondering why the Bank of England still worries about bank notes and how we can make them safer and more resilient.

Perhaps surprisingly, even today there is more than £68bn worth of notes in circulation — higher than at any time in British history. And it is a number that continues to rise. So we are expecting bank notes to be around for some time yet. 

The note is being printed by De La Rue, one of the world’s leading printers of bank notes, on polymer manufactured at the plant of Innovia Security in Wigton, Cumbria, where the company has invested £40m in a new facility especially for this purpose.

So what has prompted the move to polymer?  Crucially, the new note features a new generation of security features that will make it even harder to counterfeit. These include a see-through window featuring the Queen’s portrait, with a border that changes from purple to green; Big Ben shown in gold foil on the front of the note and silver on the back; and a hologram that contains the word ‘Five’ and changes to ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.

The new fiver is also cleaner because the polymer is resistant to dirt and moisture.

And it is expected to last at least 2.5 times longer — around five years — even after being folded into wallets and scrunched up in pockets.

Already the new fiver has attracted a lot of interest. Prior to the move to polymer, the Bank carried out a wide-ranging public consultation, which found that 87% of people were in favour of the change.

Since the note was unveiled in June, Bank of England staff have travelled to all regions of the UK showing it off to the public, including the council of the British Plastics Federation when they met at the Bank of England in July.

Now the new fiver has been issued, paper £5 notes will be gradually withdrawn from circulation as they are banked by retailers and businesses. But paper £5 notes can be spent as usual until May 2017, after which they will cease to be legal tender. Following this, paper £5 notes will still be exchanged at the Bank of England.

A new polymer £10 note featuring Jane Austen will enter circulation in summer 2017, followed by a J.M.W. Turner £20 note by 2020.

So… not long to wait until torn, crumpled and soggy bank notes will be a thing of the past.

For more details on the new £5 note visit www.thenewfiver.co.uk