Royal Bank of Scotland is the latest cash issuing bank to commit to the use of polymer bank notes rather than old school cotton paper.
A plastic £5 note is expected to be issued north of the border by the Scottish bank in the second half of 2016 and the £10 in 2017. This follows the time scale outlined by Bank of England, Clydesdale Bank, and Bank of Scotland, who have all confirmed plans to move to the more durable notes over the next two years.
RBS has been issuing banknotes since 1727 and has an average of £1.5bn worth of notes in circulation on a single day.
The plastic cash, which is smaller than existing paper notes, has been designed by De La Rue using its Safeguard polymer substrate and incorporates new security features, such as colour changing inks.
David Wheldon, chief marketing officer at the Royal Bank of Scotland, says:
“It is very important that people have confidence in our banknotes. The move to polymer notes will bring significant benefits to all those who use them. They will be smaller, cleaner and more secure."