A Scottish tour group has urged vacationers coming to Scotland to solely settle for polymer notes when exchanging their cash.
The Little Scottish Treasures, Magical Excursions group posted the recommendation on-line after a few of their purchasers obtained paper notes and located it troublesome to make use of them.
Paper notes have been phased out of circulation within the UK from 2016 onwards, with £20 and £50 paper notes at the moment going out of circulation in September.
They wrote: "When getting foreign money earlier than travelling right here, please guarantee that you're given PLASTIC notes not paper ones, lots of our visitor have been given outdated English or Scottish cash of their residence nation and a few locations will not settle for it.
"We're discovering this loads with visitors travelling from North and South America."
Ciar Mor MacEagh and Carolina Garcia, each 45, who run the thrilling Scottish excursions, defined that two of their teams have had issues on the subject of being given the older paper notes.
The pair, who're primarily based in Scotland's latest metropolis Dunfermline and run their excursions in each English and Spanish, mentioned: "We observed first throughout a tour in April with a bunch from Ohio that they solely had paper notes.
"That they had actual issues with utilizing them as some locations would not take them, so we took all their money to a financial institution for them and adjusted it over.
"At present (this week) we've got a bunch from Mexico who had been issued paper notes within the airport at Mexico Metropolis, they spent two days in London earlier than flying to Scotland and reported that some companies wouldn't settle for the paper notes (regardless that they're English notes)."
Including that they'd issued the recommendation within the hope that folks would be taught the distinction, Ciar mentioned that he did not consider individuals had been giving out the paper notes in an try and trick anybody however that it was higher to be "protected than sorry".
He mentioned: "When getting UK foreign money, guarantee it's plastic notes. One of the best ways to ensure is to examine for a transparent plastic window, both that or to get your foreign money from an ATM or outlet whereas right here."
What is the distinction between the notes?
There may be a variety of Scottish polymer banknotes starting from £5 to £50 (with one £100 financial institution additionally due quickly) which you'll see above.
These have changed the outdated paper notes (starting with the £5 notes which had been first launched in 2016) and are accepted all through Scotland as authorized tender.
In line with the Committee of Scottish Bankers, every household of notes has its personal see-through function and clear window design that you would be able to look by.
English and Northern Irish notes are additionally accepted in Scotland however these should even be polymer and can look totally different from Scottish notes.
Scottish £20 and £50 paper notes are nonetheless technically in circulation and needs to be honoured however not in all places will settle for them.
What to do if you're given paper notes
Some companies should still settle for paper notes however if you wish to be protected, you possibly can take them to any good financial institution and ask for them to be modified over or credited to your account.
Nonetheless, this can be all the way down to the financial institution's discretion and there's a slight probability they could refuse so it's higher to be protected than sorry as Ciar mentioned.
Non-Financial institution of Scotland prospects will have the ability to alternate the paper notes to polymer variations as much as a worth of £250.
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