Note Printing Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Note Printing Australia (NPA), which is located in Craigieburn, Melbourne, is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of Australia and was corporatised in July 1998. NPA has its origins as a subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank that was first established in 1913 to print banknotes for Australia. After printing paper banknotes for Australia for 75 years NPA introduced the first polymer banknote technology in 1988.
Contents |
[edit] Polymer Banknote Technology
At the dawn of the 21st century, advanced reprographic devices are making counterfeiting more attractive than ever before. With the counterfeiting threat this technology poses, it is surprising that most of the world's most sophisticated economies still use paper banknotes.
NPA produced Australia's first polymer banknote in 1988, setting a new world standard in banknote technology. The numerous benefits of polymer banknotes include improved security, durability, cost effectiveness, processability and environmental responsibility.
By 1996, Australia had issued the world's first complete series of circulating polymer banknotes.
NPA has also produced polymer notes for Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Kuwait, Samoa, New Zealand, Romania, Bangladesh, Solomon Islands, Mexico, Nepal, Vietnam, and Chile, with over 9 billion polymer banknotes currently circulating worldwide.
[edit] Benefits of Polymer Notes
- Greater Security - Polymer notes are time-consuming and costly to reproduce to a standard that can readily be passed as genuine. Other features include Windows which can incorporate security devices such as vignettes, DOVDs and embossing (which cannot be copied on regular banknotes), and it is aknowledged that other security features of polymer banknotes are much more complex to reproduce.
- Environmental Responsibility - Polymer banknotes in circulation last around four times longer than paper notes, reducing new note requirements and note disposal by up to 75%. Polymer Notes can also be easily recycled compared to regular notes; which are usually incinerated.
- Cost Effectivness - paper notes have an average life in circulation of eight months. Today, by contrast, the polymer notes usually last at least 30 months; this reduces reprinting redistribution and destruction costs. Polymer notes also do not degrade readily in the presence of water (thus humidity) and therefore increases their cost effectiveness and lowers their environmental impact.
