Bang! A gunshot rings through the air. A pair of masked men enter the glass door, pointing their guns. Their outstretched hands hold an empty duffle bag. A clerk shaking with fear stuffs money into the duffle bag, and goes back to cowering behind the counter. The pair grin and run off in glee. A few days later on an island resort in the Pacific, the police arrest a pair of men relaxing at the beach. "How did you find us?" "Polymer banknotes."

polymer banknotes are the uprising fad in the financial world. The United Kingdom (UK) has stated it will use them in the near future, Canada has been using them for their five-dollar notes, and Australia has implemented them for all their bills and notes. The proposed advantages of polymer banknotes are significant and one would expect other nations to follow suit and begin using them.

Polymer banknotes hold a significant mechanical advantage over paper bills that simply cannot be overlooked. Owing to differences in their base materials, polymer banknotes—think plastic—are more resistant to external damage than paper bills. As such, they last longer than paper bills do, and can be circulated in the market for a longer period of time before they have to be replaced. This trait is especially useful in tropical areas, where paper bills are vulnerable to the high humidity and heat. In the long run, this can significantly reduce the cost of printing money.

Another exceptional feature of polymer banknotes is that with the proper facilities, they are recyclable. With the many current environmental issues, this becomes a great asset of polymer banknotes as the pollution involved in the process of getting rid of traditional paper banknotes is reduced.

Polymer banknotes have other indisputable technical benefits. With the security features embedded on such notes, they become extremely difficult to counterfeit. Considering all the problems associated with fake banknotes, this is as a major advantage of polymer banknotes over paper bills. Consider this. When the counterfeiting issue hit a peak in Canada from 2001 to 2004, much of the blame for this issue went to the existing five and ten dollar notes printed in 2001 and 2002. These notes did not include any security features, thus making them vulnerable to counterfeiting. With advanced security features including transparent windows and microprinted watermarks having been available for nearly a decade, it only seems reasonable to put them to full use. Polymer banknotes do exactly that.

   
▲ In Australia, polymer notes have fully replaced paper notes. Provided by realitypod.

Yet there also exist certain issues that need to be addressed before the full implementation of polymer banknotes. Obviously, due to the materials associated with the manufacturing process, polymer banknotes have a higher upfront production cost than do paper banknotes. While on the long run the durability of polymer banknotes may offset this issue, the initial cost may still serve as a formidable barrier for many nations that have more pressing problems. Similarly, in order to gain full advantage of these new notes, recycling facilities need to be built, which obviously would require major funding.

From bartering to coins to paper banknotes to polymer banknotes, humans have made technological strides that benefit society as a whole. As long as some of the issues on polymer banknotes can be tackled, it would be wise to seize the opportunity to use polymer banknotes and their advantages.

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