Changing current £20 notes

Rapporman

I have saved £1000 in £20 notes and wish to convert them to £50 notes. Is my bank obliged to do this as a straight swap or must I pay the £20 notes into my account and then withdraw in £50 's. I have been a customer of the bank for 25 years and am retired.

Merlin139

I cannot see what difference it would make to you. If you had to pay them in you could then withdraw the money as £50's straight afterwards.

Either method would take around 60 seconds to carryout.

Obviously a problem might arrive if you are overdrawn past the limit of an overdraft.

eskbanker

How long has it taken you to collect fifty £20 notes? Many people save up small change in jars, etc, but keeping £1,000 in cash form in your home misses out on a potentially worthwhile amount of interest and is a fairly significant amount of cash to be having around....

kazwookie

They will pay them into your account, and them draw them out, so they have an audit of where their money has come from / going to.

Being retired and 25 years with the same bank has nothing to do with it.~irrelevant.

agrinnall

I'd ring up the bank first, I don't know whether they keep many £50 notes on hand given that they are so rarely used, and they might need to order them in.

Robin9

What on earth do you want £50 notes for ? They can be difficult to spend as many shops don't see them very often and treat them with suspicion.

AndyPK

I believe £20 notes are due to be changed to the new style, which is why the question has been raised.

I guess you could get £10 notes, but they may bio-degrade under your mattress!

eskbanker

AndyPK wrote: »

I believe £20 notes are due to be changed to the new style, which is why the question has been raised.

I guess you could get £10 notes, but they may bio-degrade under your mattress!

Assuming it's Bank of England notes we're talking about here, the next generation of £20 is due to be issued in 2020, so, assuming the six-month transition period for tenners is repeated, there will be at least two years before current £20 notes are withdrawn from circulation, and if OP is simply planning on taking them to the bank, then even that wouldn't be a deadline as such....

Westie983

£20 notes are not due to change till 2020.

You will have to pay the £1000 into your bank account and then do a withdrawal of £1000 in £50 if your bank has them in stock, normally its a note value that is ordered in, or sent back as soon as there is £5000 worth so you may need to speak to your bank to make sure they have £50 in, or for them to know not to send back that weeks £50 from stock.

Your bank is obliged to give you the denominations you require if they have stock and its been ordered, but not a straight swop, as an audit trail is needed. This is the process if you have been a customer for 5 minutes or 50 years.

Westie983

shortcrust

There are murmurs that the £50 note will be withdrawn and not replaced. It doesn’t really matter anyway as banks will still accept them for ages after they’re withdrawn and the BoE will accept them for as long as the ravens are still in the Tower of London.

In my experience banks will change notes without paying them into your account if you’re a customer. Perhaps things have changed? Ask! You may have to give them notice so they can get that amount of 50s in, especially if it’s a small branch.

Savvy_Sue

Robin9 wrote: »

What on earth do you want £50 notes for ? They can be difficult to spend as many shops don't see them very often and treat them with suspicion.

This, I actively dislike having £50 notes, not that it happens often!

shortcrust wrote: »

In my experience banks will change notes without paying them into your account if you’re a customer.

this is my experience also. Plus we found £40 in old tenners and £5 in old £1 coins the other day, and I had no problem swapping them directly.

Biggest problem is finding a convenient bank branch!