The UK is to begin circulation of plastic banknotes from 2016, the Bank of England has announced.
It confirmed that the next £5 and £10 notes will be printed on polymer, a thin flexible plastic film, rather than on the cotton paper used for notes currently in issue. The first to be issued will be the £5 featuring Sir Winston Churchill, which will then be followed in 2017 by a polymer £10 featuring Jane Austin.
The decision follows three years of research by the Bank, during which it found that polymer banknotes are resistant to dirt and moisture and therefore stay cleaner for longer than paper notes. Polymer banknotes are also secure, it said, because they can incorporate advanced security features that make them difficult to counterfeit. They also are more durable and last at least 2.5 times longer than paper notes.
Nearly 13,000 individuals gave feedback during a public consultation into the use of plastic notes. Of those, 87 per cent of those who responded were in favour of polymer, only six per cent were opposed and seven per cent were neutral.
It is estimated that switching to polymer will save the Bank around 25 per cent of its production costs.
No decision has been announced about who will print the new bills. Currently De La Rue prints the paper currency.
