5 Pounds Ulster Bank

Ulster Bank's 2018 polymer issue came as part of an industrywide shift by Northern Ireland's commercial note-issuing banks, following the lead set by the Bank of England's own polymer programme. Ulster Bank, as a subsidiary of NatWest Group (then Royal Bank of Scotland), coordinated the transition with its parent's broader infrastructure but retained its own distinct Northern Irish series — one of three commercial banks in the province still exercising their historic right to issue notes under the Bankers (Northern Ireland) Act 1928.

The transparent window runs through the note's width rather than appearing as a discrete patch, a construction method that requires the substrate be printed in two laminated layers — the same De La Rue Safeguard process used across most Commonwealth polymer transitions of the period.