Bank of England counterfeit banknote awareness campaign

The Bank of England recently published its 2025 counterfeit banknote statistics, which showed an increase in counterfeit notes detected, rising from 99,000 in 2024 to 200,000 in 2025. While this is an increase year on year, counterfeit notes remain extremely rare and represent only a tiny fraction of banknotes in circulation.

To help businesses protect themselves from the financial and reputational risks associated with counterfeit notes, we have launched a nationwide awareness campaign promoting simple, practical banknote checking measures.

As part of the campaign, the bank has developed a partner toolkit containing ready-to-use communications materials that can be shared with your members, stakeholders, and wider business networks. The campaign encourages businesses to:

·        Adopt the Bank of England’s Two Quick Checks when accepting cash.

·        Join the Banknote Checking Scheme to access free training materials, guidance, alerts and updates.

Together, these simple actions can help businesses identify counterfeit notes with confidence and reduce the risk of financial loss.

The toolkit contains a range of adaptable assets, including:

·        Social media posts and videos

·        Newsletter and email content

·        Website articles and graphics

·        Print and digital advertising assets

·        Educational content promoting the Two Quick Checks

·        Campaign videos and business case studies

·        A4 banknote checking posters in English, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Polish, Portuguese, Punjabi, Romanian, Spanish, Urdu and Welsh, making them particularly useful for organisations with diverse workforces.

We would be grateful for your support in helping us reach businesses across the UK. Please consider using the materials in the toolkit to share the campaign messages through your communications channels and networks.