Nigerian Banks to Reject £20, £50 Paper Banknotes from January 1

Banks in Nigeria said they will stop accepting the old-style of £20 and £50 Banknotes from January 2022.

This followed the decision of the Bank of England (BOE) to phase out its £20 and £50 paper banknotes, with effect from September 30, 2022.

The new, polymer £20 notes were introduced in February 2020 to replace the paper ones which are more susceptible to fraud.

The polymer £50 and £20 notes contain advanced security features, completing the most secure set of Bank of England polymer banknotes yet.

The newer notes are also more durable.

In a notice to its customers on Thursday, November 4, 2021, the management of Keystone Bank Limited said its branches “will only accept polymer notes from all customers.”

However, no reason was given for the decision to stop accepting the notes nine months before they cease to have legal tender status with the issuing authority

In a notice by the BOE, on September 29, 2021, had in a statement given a one-year notice to withdraw the legal tender status of the paper banknotes after 30 September 2022.

The statement urged anyone who has notes estimated to be worth approximately £9 billion worth of paper £20 and £15 billion worth of paper £50 notes still in circulation “at home to spend or deposit them at their bank or Post Office.”

The notes on return “are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring J.M.W. Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.”

The BOE assured that after the deadline, “people with a UK bank account will still be able to deposit withdrawn notes into their account. Some Post Offices may also accept withdrawn notes as payment for goods and services or as a deposit to an account accessed via them.”