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Study in UK

Bank & Currency

Bank Services

Opening an Account Individual boarding schools and tertiary institutions will assist students in opening a bank account. Opening an account, students should bring along their admission letter and a valid passport.

Office Hours Banks normally rest on Saturday, only some of the banks will remain open for business, and only a few open on Sunday. All banks are closed on public holidays. In addition, some banks in Scotland will have an hour lunch break. Therefore students should contact their local bank for details to know more about the scope of their services, fees and hours.

Currency

Although the UK is an important member of the European Union, but the British unit of currency is the pound (GBP), symbol £. British currency metric, one pound equals 100 pence. The denominations of banknotes and coins are as follows:

All banknotes are printed with Queen Elizabeth II’s head portrait, while the back is printed with a number of famous British historical figures, including the back of the £5 note where the social reformer Elizabeth Fry (1780-1845) is printed, back of the £10 note is biologist Charles Darwin (1809-1882), back of the £20 note is musician Edward Elgar (1857-1934) and economist Adam Smith (1723-1790), lastly at the back of the £50 note is the first banker of Bank of England John Houblon (1632-1712).

In 2008, the 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence and £1 coins were redesigned.

The design competition was organized by The Royal Mint, and British designer Mathew Dent won in the competition. His design was to illustrate the royal insignia of the shield of the Royal Arms, known as a "post-modern" work.

For details on the new coins, please refer to The Royal Mint website: http://www.royalmint.com.