Old £5 & £10 notes

In a mainstream UK bank branch today. I was told that in major branches with counter service , they will exchange small quantities of the old notes, when pressed up to £50 worth. This was a HSBC branch. So no need to trek to the B of England. Their view was larger amounts will have to be paid into an account.

However this should be good news for tourists , cruisers to the UK.

This is good news! We have 2 5 GPB notes that are no longer used. I was going to check with a bank near our hotel and see what I could do.

 

While a visit to THE bank might have been nice, it would be more convenient to just exchange them somewhere along our way.

 

Thanks for the info

ML

Last week, I sold my old GBP10 notes at a currency exchange place here in Alberta. I was surprised they still took them as they rejected my old Swedish krona notes. But, I only had 30 pounds so maybe the small amount was why they took them. I'll have to send the Swedish krona to Sweden to have them exchanged and put in my bank account (for a fee of SEK100).

My partner was going to Barclays on my behalf last week and decided to take an old £10 note he had. As he doesn't have an account there they wouldn't change it.

 

He went along the road to his own bank, which is HSBC and they didn't even bother to ask if he had an account. Moral of the story, try HSBC first.

 

 

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Moral of the story, try HSBC first.

 

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Thanks for this tip, we'll keep an eye open for one.

Don’t know if this already noted.....but we exchanged our £5 notes at Bank of England -and toured the museum as well. This was after notes taken out of circulation last year. We had less than £150 as I recall and no British bank account. Very easy procedure. Check hours, etc in advance at B of E website.

 

 

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Thanks for this info! We will be in London later this year; fortunately, we only have 30 GBP in 5s and 10s; thought we might bring them along and walk into a bank and see if they can be exchanged, so now we will. (Have a bunch of 20s we better use before they are taken out of circulation as well! :D)

No rush as the date for the new £20 note has not yet been announced , so unlikely they will not still be in use through 2018.

Of more concern is the£50 note which many traders are uneasy to accept.

£20 notes are being replaced with polymer ones sometime in 2020.

Thanks for this info! We will be in London later this year; fortunately, we only have 30 GBP in 5s and 10s; thought we might bring them along and walk into a bank and see if they can be exchanged, so now we will. (Have a bunch of 20s we better use before they are taken out of circulation as well! :D)

Both my brother (Chase Bank) and I (PNC) were able to exchange our old 5 and 10 pound notes for US dollars at our local bank. There was a small difference in the exchange rate of a few dollars, but it was definitely worth it for me to not have the bother of trying to find a British bank that would do an exchange while we're on our cruise.

Both my brother (Chase Bank) and I (PNC) were able to exchange our old 5 and 10 pound notes for US dollars at our local bank. There was a small difference in the exchange rate of a few dollars, but it was definitely worth it for me to not have the bother of trying to find a British bank that would do an exchange while we're on our cruise.

 

We exchanged them at currency exchange at the airport in Dublin. The exchange rate was a bit higher but the convenience was worth it!

In the US, our Bank of America branch swapped us old GBP for USD this week, and this was not in a major city (both 5s and 10s). The exchange rate wasn't optimal, but was better than travelex.

 

We exchanged them at currency exchange at the airport in Dublin. The exchange rate was a bit higher but the convenience was worth it!

In a mainstream UK bank branch today. I was told that in major branches with counter service , they will exchange small quantities of the old notes, when pressed up to £50 worth. This was a HSBC branch. So no need to trek to the B of England. Their view was larger amounts will have to be paid into an account.

I took some old paper £10 notes off some visitors recently and took them into a Barclays. No issue with taking them over the counter for a straight swap. It was a teller who didn't know me and who didn't ask whether I'm a Barclays customer, so I suspect that they would do it for anyone. I was half expecting to be made to pay the money into my account.

Hi,

 

There is a limit due to money laundering legislation but I don't know what the limit is.

I was in England last month and nobody wanted my old one pound coins from prior trips. I finally used them to tip the bellman. I assume he has a bank to change them.

We were in London earlier this month, so I’m closing the loop on my post above. We had the old 5 and 10 GBP notes with us, and had no problem changing them at the Barclays just opposite Westminster Abbey.  In fact, the clerk stuffed them into a large envelope filled with old bills from numerous visitors doing the same. 😀

 

We were careful not to bring home any 20s.

thanks  for the update

I am hoping some place  will take our 5 pound  note in Southampton in the spring   but if not ..oh well

 

When we were in England this past Sept., we experienced a problem with swapping the older bank notes for newer ones.  We tried a few banks and even a post office counter, as suggested to us by the consierge in our hotel.  Luckily, we had friends who joined us a few days later who live in England and have bank accounts there and they were able to change the money for us.  Originally all we heard was you have to go to Bank of England in London so it's all a bit confusing.  

 

Barb

59 minutes ago, matamanoa said:

When we were in England this past Sept., we experienced a problem with swapping the older bank notes for newer ones. 

 

Do you remember how much you were trying to change? I wonder whether we can identify the limit that a bank is likely to be happy with, given that some are clearly prepared to change a few notes at a time.

It was under $100

 

Barb

For the database: our amount was under 30 GBP.  As I said, zero problem changing the notes at Barclay's across from Westminster Abbey.  Maybe pick a bank in a high-tourist area like that one. 

Earlier this year, I went to the Bank of England, where the clerk was hesitant to change a battered fiver, but supervisor verified the serial number and approved a replacement. 

 

Remember this thread was started in April, I have not seen old notes now for months despite running a charity Christmas card shop in the past 7 weeks, so very few around now in UK. By the time tourists come back next spring or summer it is going to be hard to see where you will be able to swap except at Bank of England. Most local banks unless paying into a UK a/c will not touch them. Sorry to put a gloomy edge on this thread.

2 hours ago, GrJ Berkshire said:

Most local banks unless paying into a UK a/c will not touch them.

 

Has that recently changed? It seemed to be fine during the summer just gone (see above).

along the  same topic 

Are there any banks open on Saturdays  in Southampton?