Counterfeiters have met their match. The Bank of England announced it will begin issuing plastic bank notes in 2016. The announcement comes after researchers found plastic money made from a polymer material is harder to knockoff than paper.
This the first time in the Bank's 300-year history that it will use plastic notes, the Associated Press reported. Researchers, who conducted tests for three years, also found that plastic notes last longer and are more dirt resistant than cotton-made paper money. The change will save an estimated 100 million pounds, or nearly $160 million, over the next 10 years, RTÉ News reported.
"Ensuring trust and confidence in money is at the heart of what central banks do," Bank of England Governor Mark Carny said in a statement obtained by RTÉ News, an Irish media company. "Polymer notes are the next step in the evolution of banknote design to meet that objective."
Other countries already use plastic bank notes, including Singapore, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico. Australia was the first to use plastic notes in 1988, but Britain will be the largest economy to do it, RTÉ News reported.
In addition to being dirt-resistant, the plastic notes are machine washable, and are covered in a clear, film that can be wiped clean. A new, transparent window on the plastic note makes it harder to counterfeit, RTÉ News reported.
The Bank will first issue a plastic, 5-pound note in 2016. It will feature World War Two Prime Minister Winston Churchill. A plastic 10-pound note will be issued the following year, featuring author Jane Austen. The new notes will be smaller than the current paper ones.
The Bank of England said most of the 13,000 people asked for their opinion about the new notes said they were in favor of it, the AP reported. One group, however, campaigned against the switch to plastic notes.
"For me, there is something dependable and trustworthy about renewable and recyclable paper and I don't feel that we will ever feel that attachment to plastic notes," Martyn Eustace, director of paper and print company Two Sides, told the magazine PrintWeek.
