Scotland Launches First Plastic Bank Note

Scotland Launches First Plastic Bank Note.

Clydesdale bank, one of the banks authorised in Scotland to issue currency, has today launched Britain's first legal plastic bank note. This was originally planned and announced last year following consultation and the new polymer-based banknotes are available from Clydesdale bank branches from today.

The first plastic banknote is a £5 note and has been issued to coincide with the 125th anniversary of the completion of the Forth Bridge. This also coincides with the fact that the Forth Bridge was nominated last year by UNESCO as a world Heritage site.

The reason for issuing polymer/plastic-based banknotes is that they are said to last between 2.5 and 3 times longer than the traditional special paper based notes.

The notes have been tested in various conditions even inside washing machines and appear to wear well. The new 5 pound notes are slightly smaller than the existing 5 pound notes but will still fit inside ATM machines meaning little or no disruption for banking groups.

They have also had strict security and forgery prevention tests and said to be as secure if not more secure than current banknotes although as ever this remains to be seen.

Plastic banknotes are available in many countries around the world with nearly 50 countries issuing plastic banknotes and perhaps the most common for us to see our Australian notes and we do not believe it will be long before the rest of the United Kingdom has plastic banknotes after a trial period is completed for the new Scottish £5 note from Clydesdale bank.