It will start appearing in ATMs and tills throughout the country and the Bank of England expects half of all ATMs across the UK to be dispensing polymer £20s two weeks after issue.

The polymer £20 is the most secure Bank of England banknote yet. It includes two see-through windows and a two colour foil which make it very difficult to counterfeit.

It joins the Winston Churchill £5 and the Jane Austen £10 in the first series of polymer notes. A new polymer £50 featuring Alan Turing will be issued next year.

Turner’s self-portrait, as featured on the new £20 note, is currently on display at Tate Britain alongside the banknote.

Speaking at Tate Britain, which houses the Turner Bequest of 300 oil paintings and many thousands of sketches and watercolours, Governor Mark Carney said: “Our banknotes celebrate the UK’s extraordinarily rich and diverse heritage and highlight the contributions of its greatest citizens.

“Turner’s art was transformative. I am delighted that the work of arguably the single most influential British artist of all time will now appear on another two billion works of art – the new £20 notes that people can start using today.”

Live artwork with Snapchat

To bring the new note to life, the Bank has worked with Snapchat to develop a lens which allows the public to see their cash in a new dimension through augmented reality.

1. Open the Snapchat app and point the camera at the Snapcode, or click on the image above
2. Press and hold on the Snapcode to unlock the AR Lens
3. Once unlocked, hover over the note or an image of the new £20
4. Watch as it transforms the note into a live piece of artwork
5. Take a snap and share it

Fight against counterfeiting

The new £20 note is the first to feature the signature of Sarah John, the Bank’s current Chief Cashier. She said: “Moving the £20 note to polymer marks a major step forward in our fight against counterfeiting. I am very grateful to everyone across the cash industry who has made this transition possible and I hope the public enjoy using their new Turner £20s.”

There are over two billion £20 notes in circulation. Laid end to end, two billion polymer £20 notes would stretch around the world almost seven times and weigh a total of 1,780 tonnes – that’s over 141 double decker buses.

Paper £20 notes can continue to be used as normal and the Bank will give six months’ notice ahead of legal tender status being withdrawn.

Features on the new £20

• A large see-through window with a blue and gold foil on the front depicting Margate lighthouse and Turner Contemporary. The foil is silver on the back. The shape of the large window is based on the shape of the fountains in Trafalgar Square.
• A smaller see-through window in the bottom corner of the note, inspired by Tintern Abbey.
• JMW Turner’s self-portrait, painted c.1799 and currently on display in Tate Britain.
• One of Turner’s most eminent paintings The Fighting Temeraire; a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire which played a distinguished role in Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The painting is currently on display in the National Gallery and was voted the nation’s favourite painting in a 2005 poll run by BBC Radio 4.
• A metallic hologram which changes between the word ‘Twenty’ and ‘Pounds’ when the note is tilted.
• The Queen’s portrait in the see-through window with ‘£20 Bank of England’ printed twice around the edge.
• A silver foil patch with a 3D image of the coronation crown.
• A purple foil patch containing the letter ‘T’ and based on the staircase at Tate Britain.
• A quote “Light is therefore colour” from an 1818 lecture by Turner referring to the innovative use of light, shade, colour and tone in his pictures.
• Turner’s signature from his Will, the document with which he bequeathed many of his paintings to the nation.

Further details about the new £20 note are available at www.thenew20.co.uk.