WHAT MAKES GUARDIAN SAFER THAN PAPER ALTERNATIVES

GUARDIAN™ polymer substrate enables a range of advanced security features to be deployed that simply can’t be achieved in paper notes. These features include transparent windows, inks that change colour in UV light or dependent on the angle of viewing, hidden images, designs that are built up on many layers to increase complexity while remaining aesthetically compelling, and the use of novel and innovative materials to build in security features that you can’t see with the naked eye. See more about our security features here.

Extremely low levels of counterfeiting

GUARDIAN is manufactured from Clarity™ C film – developed exclusively for GUARDIAN – through a unique ‘bubble’ process in a eight-storey high chamber making advanced use of both gravity and air. This technology is impossible to replicate easily. The results can be seen around the world where polymer has replaced paper notes. In some instances, the proportion of counterfeit notes in circulation has dropped from as high as 30% to virtually zero.

Multiple levels of security

The numerous levels of security that can be incorporated into GUARDIAN are extremely challenging to counterfeit. The ‘Public’ level includes features that are visible to the naked eye, such as inks that change colour. At the ‘Professional’ level are features that only become visible using a simple device, such as images that can only be seen in certain light, including UV. Finally, ‘Covert’ level features need a specific, forensic device to be detected.

High levels of user confidence

The more secure a banknote is, the more confident people are about using it. Wherever they have been introduced, GUARDIAN polymer banknotes have been popular with the public, achieving high approval ratings[1] from consumers and retailers.

[1] Banco de Espana, Billetaria, April 2009, New Zealand’s experience with polymer banknotes, Pg. 13M