The new £20 note entered into circulation on 20 February 2020 and features the image of the artist JMW Turner. It will take a few weeks for the notes to become commonplace across the country. The new £20 note includes a number of new security features including two windows and a two-colour foil, making it very difficult to counterfeit.
The new £20 note joins the current £5 and £10 notes in being printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic. It has already been confirmed that a new £50 note will be issued in 2021 featuring Alan Turing, completing the updating of all current Bank of England banknotes.
In tandem with the launch of the new £20 note the process of withdrawing the current paper £20 notes from circulation will begin. The paper £20 notes will remain as legal tender until they are withdrawn. The exact date that the paper notes are to be withdrawn has not yet been announced. The Bank of England has confirmed it will give six months’ notice ahead of the paper notes being withdrawn as legal tender. Even after the old £20 notes have been withdrawn, many banks will still continue to accept them as deposits from customers.
