When Mark Carney announced that Alan Turing’s face would appear on the new £50 polymer note, I was struck by two things. The first was the relevance and impact of someone like Turing and his accomplishments during the Second World War and beyond. The second was the continuing relevance and impact of cash, and how it’s existence will continue long into the future.

The design of the new note will feature an image of Turing’s face keeping the same red colouring. The note will also have a quote that he gave to The Times in 1949, “This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.” A particularly nice touch is the binary ribbon on the new note.

“1010111111110010110011000” is 23061912 in decimal or the date of Alan Turing’s birth - 23^rd of June 1912. Mr. Turing has been described as the father of modern-day computer science and artificial intelligence. His impact is truly profound.

Turing and his colleagues were, and this is not hyperbole, vital in making possible much of the society that we live in today. Their work helped to defeat the Nazi’s, saving an estimated 14 million lives by reducing the length of the Second World War by up to two years. While Turing himself is credited with setting the groundwork for artificial intelligence by considering the question about whether machines could think. The impact of this work can be seen in everyday life and businesses across the globe. The eponymous Turing Test, measuring a machine's ability to exhibit intelligent behaviour equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a human, has never been more relevant with the emergence of chatbots for customer service applications.

Similarly, cash has impacted lives of society for centuries. It has allowed society to change and evolve, to move away from bartering to being able to pay for goods and services. Cash allowed workers to store value of their labour and use it to buy what they need, when they need it. The ability to provide confidence to the bearer, that the value they hold will remain stable and be universally accepted is an important reason for the continued use of cash.

By committing to a new polymer £50 note, the Bank of England has demonstrated its belief that cash is a crucial part of the economy and the continuing importance of cash in the payments landscape in the UK. Polymer notes enhance security, making it more difficult for counterfeiters to replicate the note. The investment in a new note, to be released two years from now, is encouraging for those of us who are concerned by the potential risks of a cashless society.

There are still around 344 million £50 notes in circulation, with a combined value of £17.2bn. The £50 note has been talked about disparagingly in the past, however the idea that we should leave such a large number of notes, with such great value vulnerable to counterfeiting is worrisome. It is of course an individual’s right to choose how they store and spend their money. Protecting the ability to keep a high value of cash in as few notes as possible, is something that should be left to individuals.

Individual choice, the thing that Mr. Turing and his colleagues at Bletchley Park were working so hard to preserve. It seems fitting that someone as intelligent, brave and visionary should be used on banknotes in the UK. At a time when algorithms, artificial intelligence and digital payments dominate the news and payments landscape, Alan Turing has possibly never been more relevant. Equally, cash has never been more relevant as consumers look to protect their privacy and seek to maintain choice over their payments.