King Charles III is making his mark with new banknotes which are entering circulation on Wednesday 5th June 2024.
New Notes
Banknotes featuring a portrait of King Charles III are to enter circulation across the UK on 5th June.
The new banknotes will only be printed to replace notes that are worn or damaged and to meet any demand increases.
Do I Need to Exchange My Current Banknotes?
Our current notes featuring the late Queen will not become invalid. Our existing notes will remain legal tender and will co-circulate with these new notes.
Therefore, there is no need to exchange your current banknotes for these new King Charles III notes.
However, if you do wish to obtain these new notes, you are able to in two ways.
- You can use the Bank of England’s postal exchange service to send up to £300 of current banknotes along with an application form. You will then receive the same amount back in the form of the new banknotes. If you wish to do this, you must do so between 5th – 30th June
- You can visit the Bank of England counter at Threadneetle Street in London to exchange up to £300 of existing notes for new notes between 5th – 11th June
Will this Affect My Business?
If your business uses or is responsible for any machines that sort, accept or check banknotes you should make sure they are adapted via software updates to recognise the new banknote design.
“We ask that all affected businesses, including retailers, transport and car park operators, financial institutions, and ATM operators etc, complete relevant machine updates before King Charles III banknotes are first issued on 5 June” – Bank of England
Without businesses across the UK making these changes to their machines, the new note would effectively be one that people couldn’t really use.
What Do the New Notes Look Like?
The new notes will look the exact same as current ones, except there will be a portrait of King Charles III where there would normally be one of Queen Elizabeth II.
The reverse side of the notes will remain unchanged, featuring Sir Winston Churchill (£5), Jane Austen (£100, JMW Turner (£20) and Alan Turing (£50).
The security features are the exact same on the new notes as they are on our current ones. To learn more about what exactly to look out for to check whether a banknote is genuine or not, you can click here to watch a video from the Bank of England.