HSBC and Lloyds to offer £5 notes in more ATMs

Posted by Kim Newbold on 10th Sep 10

Following an announcement by HSBC that it would be stocking more of its ATM machines with £5 notes, Lloyds TSB has said that it too will be installing more machines capable of giving out the smaller denomination bank notes. Last week HSBC increased the number of ATMs by 210; meaning customers around the country can now get £5 notes from nearly 400 machines.

Lloyds already dispenses £5 notes from 107 of it machines, most of which are situated on or near student campuses where demand for smaller denominations is perceived to be greatest. However, in a recent survey Lloyds found that there was a universally strong demand for the smaller notes with 60 per cent of all respondents saying they would like more access to £5 notes.

The low denomination was most popular with younger people with 81 per cent of those between 18 and 24 saying they would like to see more ATMs giving out the fiver. The move was also popular with 74 per cent of respondents aged between 25 and 34.

The Bank of England wants to get more £5 notes into circulation because their relatively short life expectancy means that there is already a limited supply and those that are in circulation are of a poor quality. The life expectancy of a £5 note is around a year. The lifespan of a note increases with its value, and £50 notes are expected to survive for more than five years.

There are nearly 250 million £5 notes currently in circulation in the UK with a total value of approximately £1.25 billion.

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Added by Tiana on 7th Apr 12