The Bank of England is reminding retailers to be aware of the increased risk of counterfeit banknotes being passed over by customers.
The Bank says the increased risk comes from businesses being much busier than normal over the Christmas period, and with the use of temporary staff, there is an increased risk of counterfeit banknotes being missed.
To help protect your business, the Bank of England is encouraging all retailers to ensure all banknotes being passed in transactions are checked and to ensure all staff know what to do if they suspect a banknote is counterfeit.
Counterfeit notes are a tiny proportion of the Bank of England notes in circulation; in the first half of this year, around 119,000 counterfeit notes were removed from circulation, relative to about three billion genuine notes in the system. But counterfeit notes are worthless. Failing to spot one could cost a business money and if it is accidentally passed on, potentially damage a retailer’s reputation.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself and your customers. Manual checks can quickly and easily be made using the security features on banknotes whenever notes are being passed in a transaction. Don’t rely on checking just one security feature, but check a few such as:
- The feel of the paper and the raised print
- The watermark
- The holograms
- The metallic thread
- The motion thread on the £50 note
If you have any doubts, compare a suspect note to one that you know is genuine.
The Bank of England provides a range of free of charge training materials; including a booklet, posters, Banknote app, online training course and deterrent stickers. The Bank has also produced two short films:
- Counterfeit prevention – advice for retailers and businesses
- How to check Bank of England banknotes are genuine
Further information on the Bank’s anti-counterfeiting strategy is also available.
