The five pound note is to re-establish itself in the wallets and purses of the nation on the news that all banks and building societies will be dispensing fivers from ATMs in the future.
Currently, scarcity means that £5s change hands many more times than other notes before being returned for sorting and the increased wear and tear, relative to other notes, making them less suitable for use in ATMs.
According to a report by ATM operator, Link, the Bank of England it to ensure that higher quality £5s are made available to ATM operators, as part of its reforms to the Note Circulation Scheme.
The Bank has conducted pilot work with HSBC to gain greater information on the costs and benefits of dispensing £5s from ATMs and the study has confirmed that if the notes are sorted to a “superior” standard, the maintenance problems caused by attempting to dispense the current stock of notes can be avoided.
According to Link, the higher quality note supply is a pre-requisite to stocking ATMs with fivers and also means that better quality £5s will be entering circulation.
However, it will not be economically efficient to expect all ATMs to carry £5 notes and the Link report suggests that increasing supply without increasing costs will require identification of those ATMs best placed to stock £5s.
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