Today is the last day to use your paper £20 and £50 notes

Today happens to be the last day you can use paper £20 and £50 notes.

Despite more than 23 million Brits using pretty much no cash last year, it still accounted for 15 percent of all payments.

Even with the ease of contactless, there are still those old school folks who will have a stash of paper notes under their bed, who will have hopefully handed them over to the bank before the writing of this article.

However, if you've still not managed a trip to the bank, there is still hope, if you can manage to get there by the end of the day.

"If you have any paper £20 or £50 notes, we encourage you to use them or deposit them with your bank or Post Office before 30 September 2022," Bank of England said.

"As paper notes are returned to the Bank of England, they are being replaced with the new polymer £20 notes featuring JMW Turner, and polymer £50 notes featuring Alan Turing.

"After 30 September, only our polymer notes will have legal tender status."

They added: "Once the 30 September 2022 deadline has passed, you will no longer be able to use Bank of England paper notes in shops, or use them to pay businesses.

"After this date, many UK banks will accept withdrawn notes as deposits from customers. Some Post Offices may also accept withdrawn notes as a deposit into any bank account you can access with them.

"The Bank of England will always exchange any withdrawn notes, including paper notes we have withdrawn in the past."

There's also a date when King Charles' face will appear on banknotes and coins.

King Charles III ascended to the throne immediately on the death of Elizabeth II.

And, as you might expect, the new king's portrait will eventually appear on existing designs of all four banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50).

Though the updated bank notes with King Charles' image will be revealed by the end of the year, the currency won't actually be in circulation until mid-2024.

It's expected that coins and banknotes featuring King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II will co-circulate, in attempts to minimise the environmental and financial impact of the change.

The current polymer series will remain present with no additional changes to the actual design, Bank of England said.

Anne Jessopp, chief executive officer at the Royal Mint, said: “The first coins bearing the effigy of His Majesty King Charles III will enter circulation in line with demand from banks and post offices.

"This means the coinage of King Charles III and Queen Elizabeth II will co-circulate in the UK for many years to come.”

Today (30 September), the Royal Mint has shared several new first-look images showing a 50p piece and a £5 Crown, which will be the first coins depicting Charles. 

Nicola Howell, chief commercial officer at the Royal Mint told the PA News agency: “We expect customers will start to be able to receive the commemorative range from October and then we expect the 50p memorial circulating coin to be appearing in people’s change probably from December.”