Volumatic webinar helps businesses prepare for the new King Charles notes
15 February 2024
After the announcement late last year that new UK banknotes would be entering circulation in mid-2024, along with a sneak preview of the new designs, many businesses who handle cash regularly had lots of questions, and many Volumatic customers got in touch with us to find out what the changes to the banknotes would mean for their Volumatic cash handling devices.
In response to this, Volumatic decided to address these questions head-on by organising a webinar. We got in touch with the Bank of England, who have regularly partnered with Volumatic on key cash-related matters, to ask if they would take part. The Bank of England were more than happy to contribute and organised a guest speaker from their side, with the intention being to inform and educate businesses on the introduction of the new King Charles III notes.
The webinar – ‘Are you ready for the NEW King Charles notes?’ - took place on Thursday 1st February 2024, and was attended by representatives from many leading UK businesses across several different industries, including some of Volumatic’s biggest customers and partners, including Tesco, NatWest, Dobbies, JCM Global, The Kay Group, Matalan and Genting Casino.
The key points shared in the webinar were:
- That the King Charles III banknotes will enter circulation in Q2 2024
- That all denominations (£5, £10, £20 and £50) will enter circulation on the same day
- That the notes will be issued gradually – unlike the recent polymer notes launches
- That the current banknotes featuring Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will continue to be legal tender
- That any cash handling machines (money counters, money sorters, ATMs, self-service checkouts, cash recyclers, bill validators etc.) that any UK businesses currently use must be updated by the issuance date of the new notes to ensure they recognise and can authenticate the new notes
The webinar then moved on to a useful Q&A session, allowing attendees the opportunity to ask the Bank of England anything more they needed to know to help them, and was concluded with a discussion on how the new notes being introduced would affect Volumatic customers specifically.
For Volumatic customers, MD James Harris confirmed that only customers with CounterCache intelligent (CCi) solutions, our FC75 or FC200 friction note counters, or our BV30 SD forgery detectors would need to update their software. He told customers they would be contacted by email with specific instructions shortly after the webinar. He also confirmed that because the new banknotes and coins will be minted with the same weights as they are currently, those customers with money counting scales – our CountEasy range – would not be affected.
After the webinar, James Harris said: “As leaders in the world of cash handling we knew lots of questions were being asked about the new King Charles banknotes and how important it was to address any questions or concerns regarding this with businesses across the UK prior to the notes entering circulation.”
“We were delighted that the Bank of England agreed to join us for this key webinar, and we know from the feedback we have received so far that the webinar acted as a timely factual information platform for businesses regarding the new notes, and we hope everyone who attended found it useful and informative.”
If you are a Volumatic customer wanting more information, please call our Customer Support team on 02476 584 355 or email: helpdesk@volumatic.com
You can watch the webinar below: