Today the Reserve Bank announced it will be releasing new designs of New Zealand bank notes, which would come into circulation from October next year.
The last bank note upgrade was in 1999, and the new designs would feature all the same well-known faces, including Sir Edmund Hillary and Kate Sheppard, but the new designs and colours would be more vibrant.
The text of the number value of each note would be much bolder and brighter.
The shape, size and feel of the notes would remain the same.
However, the new notes would contain more sophisticated security features.
These include holographic features that will help to make the notes easy to verify, but much harder to counterfeit.
The transparent windows that feature in the current bank notes would also be much larger in the new designs, and feature a greater level of both design and security.
More details about these features would be revealed closer to the time the bank notes were released.
The notes were at the forefront of technology, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Geoff Bascand said.
Mr Bascand said counterfeit rates were low in New Zealand compared with the rest of the world, but technology changes were making counterfeiting easier.
The new notes would allow New Zealand to stay ahead of the game, he said.
The notes would be released progressively, with the target date for the release of the $5 and $10 notes for October 2015.
The new design $20, $50 and $100 notes would be released in April 2016.
Both current notes and the new notes will be circulated together as legal tender, and the Reserve Bank expected it would take 12-18 months for the majority of notes in circulation to be new.
- NZME
