Two hundred million £10 notes remain in circulation and retailers are reportedly still handing them to customers despite them ceasing to be legal tender on Thursday.
The Bank of England has not yet urged shops to stop circulating the notes as the disappearance of a potential £2 billion spendable money could cause bedlam.
Major retailers like Tesco and Sainsbury’s have said they will stop accepting the notes after Thursday, despite extending their deadlines when the new pound coin was introduced by over a week in order to “help customers”.
Smaller businesses have been urged by the Federation of Small Businesses to continue to accept them, calling on the banks to extend the deadline in order to help get them out of circulation as soon as possible.
The organisation’s chairman Mike Cherry said there was no way £2 billion would be returned by Thursday.
“A new £10 note that’s harder to fake will be largely welcomed by the small business community,” he said.
“Too often, it’s small firms that bear the brunt of counterfeiting.
“Hopefully, we won’t see the kind of upheaval that came with the introduction of the new £1 coin.
“Small firms are working hard to prepare for Thursday’s change but will need support as the switchover takes effect.”
