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Banknotes in UK set to go plastic from 2016
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British banknotes will get a tough new makeover from 2016 when plastic replaces the traditional paper, enabling them to survive accidental spins in the washing machine, the Bank of England said yesterday.
Britain will be the largest economy so far to adopt the more durable polymer material for general banknotes, after 87 percent of respondents approved the change in a public consultation.
The move will bring estimated savings of 100 million pounds (US$162 million) over a decade. It will begin with 5-pound notes in 2016 at the earliest, with 10-pound notes arriving the following year.
Polymer notes were first used by Australia in 1988 and are now in use in over 20 countries and regions including Canada, the homeland of BOE Governor Mark Carney.
The British ones will feature World War II leader Winston Churchill on the 5-pound note and 19th-century author Jane Austen on the tenner.
“Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do. Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of banknote design to meet that objective,” Carney said in a statement.
The notes will last about six years, more than twice as long as paper, allowing the BOE to make savings of 25 percent.
Apart from passing the washing machine test, the notes are more dirt-resistant than paper and consist of a transparent plastic film coated with an ink layer which can be wiped clean. They will be harder to fake thanks to features like a transparent window.
Opponents of the move cited the slippery texture of the polymer, which the BOE said would reduce over time but added it would try to combat with raised print. The new notes also fold differently to their paper counterparts.
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