Have you seen our new bank notes yet?  They are different, but kind of the same!

In mid-October, the Reserve Bank released the new look $5 and $10 notes into circulation – with $20, $50 and $100 notes scheduled to be released in April 2016. 

The new notes will be the same sizes and denominations as the current banknotes, and they will continue to be made of flexible plastic.  The themes of the notes remain the same, with the same respected New Zealanders, the Queen, and flora and fauna remaining central to the designs - so you’ll still see Sir Edmund Hillary and Mt Cook on the $5 note and Kate Sheppard on the $10. 

Although we do not have a large counterfeiting problem in New Zealand, the notes have been upgraded to keep ahead of counterfeiters, with the latest security features including;

  • A colour-changing bar on the bird graphic.
  • Larger clear window, with a holographic foil feature, that includes an image of a bird, a map of New Zealand, a silver fern and an embossed numeral.
  • Puzzle number forming a small numeral.
  • Raised ink on the large denomination number.

Interestingly, you may not see a new note for some time because $5s, and in many cases $10 notes, are not dispensed though ATMs. Retailers and the public tend to recirculate these notes among themselves, meaning they end up back at the Reserve Bank for replacement less often than the $20, $50s and $100s.

For more information on the new bank notes, the Reserve Bank have launched a Brighter Money website