20 Pounds Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank is one of four note-issuing commercial banks in Northern Ireland, operating under a framework that permits private institutions to issue sterling-denominated notes — provided each note in circulation is backed one-for-one by Bank of England notes held in reserve. The arrangement is often misunderstood: these are not legal tender in Northern Ireland (or indeed anywhere in the UK, technically), but they are widely accepted and legally protected in their own right.

The 2019 issue marked Ulster Bank's transition to polymer for the £20, following the broader industry shift driven partly by the Bank of England's own move to the substrate. Ulster Bank's polymer notes were printed by De La Rue.