Outgoing Canadian central bank governor Mark Carney has hinted he could bring Canadian-style plastic notes to Britain when he becomes Bank of England’s governor later this year.
Asked by CTV interviewer Kevin Newman whether Britain could adopt the ‘polymer pound’, Mr Carney answered: "The Bank of England is exploring a variety of options for their next currency, yes."
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In response to an earlier question over the ‘stickiness’ of the notes, he said: "The whole point of them is they come apart, they last longer, they’re cleaner and greener, good value for taxpayers and better for the environment."
Last year the Bank of England issued a tender notice for bidders, asking for a £1bn ($1.5bn) contract to print UK bank notes from 2015.
The tender process requires that potential bidders are able to cope with changes from paper notes to plastic from the beginning of the contract.
Canada recently swapped cotton paper bank notes for plastic ones, but the move has received some opposition – the Wall Street Journal reported some complaints that they do not work in vending machines and that they can melt.
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By GlobalDataPaper notes in the UK are currently manufactured by De La Rue, although in 2011 it lost its largest customer, the Reserve Bank of India, over printing irregularities.
On the FAQ section of its website, the Bank of England states: "The Bank continually looks at the security features of the notes and at methods of production and printing, including the use of plastic.
"We currently consider paper notes as good as any other type of banknote for use in the UK. The feel of the paper is one of the ways of checking whether a note is genuine or not."
Modern polymer bank notes were first introduced as currency in Australia in 1988.
The Bank of Canada introduced $100 polymer banknotes in November 2011, $50 notes in March 2012 and $20 notes in November, 2012. Denominations of $10 and $5 will be released late this year.
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