Ulster Bank reveals new vertical notes
New £5 and £10 polymer notes will enter circulation early 2019
Last updated 24th May 2018
Ulster Bank has revealed for the first time what its new polymer banknotes will look like when they enter circulation.
The new notes will be the UK and Ireland’s first main issue ‘vertical’ banknotes.
The new designs, which were revealed at an event in the bank’s recently opened Andersonstown branch in the Westwood centre, are based on the theme ‘Living in Nature’ developed by and for Northern Ireland with a panel of experts and people from across the country.
The five pound note focuses on Northern Ireland as a place that people pass through and visit, highlighting the importance of the sea and migration and features Strangford lough and Brent Geese.
The new ten pound note focuses on Northern Ireland as a place of growth, both in terms of agriculture and heritage, and features Lough Erne, Irish hare and Guelder-rose shrubs.
A king scallop from Strangford Lough also features on the notes, as does an Ulster Glade potato, developed in County Antrim.
Les Matheson, CEO, Personal and Business Banking at RBS, Ulster Bank’s parent company, welcomed the new designs: “Our aim is to provide meaningful help for our customers, and even as behaviour changes, cash is still an important part of our economy and a recognisable way that people interact with their bank.”
“These notes are a signal of our commitment to the heritage and brand of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, demonstrating that we are an active and engaged part of the communities that we serve.”
Richard Donnan, Head of Ulster Bank in Northern Ireland, said: “Innovation is at the core of our bank, whether that’s through digital technologies, in our face-to-face services, or these designs”.
“The notes will also contain advanced security features that will make the notes much harder to counterfeit – giving customers reassurance that their money is safe and secure.”
Northern Ireland banknotes are legal currency across the UK, and will be able to be used for cash transactions across the UK. The notes are currently entering production and the bank is currently working with vendors and retailers to ensure that machines can accept and use the notes when they are released next year.
Ulster Bank has a history of innovation in Northern Ireland. The bank introduced Northern Ireland’s first drive-through branch in Finaghy in 1961. Ulster Bank also installed the first cash dispensers in Ireland in 1968 at Donegall Place Belfast, O’Connell Street Dublin, Dun Laoghaire and Ballymena. The first banknotes produced by Ulster Bank over 180 years ago were securely transported by being cut and separated into two parts, before being pasted together again at bank premises.