Kiwi wallets are about to get a bit brighter, with the remaining redesigned bank notes going into circulation from today.
The new Series 7 $20, $50 and $100 notes have had a revamp and security upgrade and around 300,000 have been delivered to banks and retailers.
However, people may not see them for a few weeks, the Reserve Bank says.
"The Reserve Bank expects more orders to come in from retail banks over the next few months as they gradually replace old notes," head of currency, property and security Steve Gordon says.
They keep the same famous faces, birds and plants but to keep up the fight against counterfeiting, a number of security features have been added.
These include a larger clear window with a more detailed metallic element, a small 'puzzle number' which lines up when the note is held to the light and raised ink on the large denomination number.
Both the old and new designs will be considered legal tender until the old notes are eventually returned to the Reserve Bank.
Other design changes include a greater colour contrast between the notes and also more use of Maori including Aotearoa and Te Putea Matua --the Reserve Bank's Maori name.
The $5 and $10 notes have already been in circulation since October.
The fiver recently won an international award as Banknote of the Year.
The whole process will cost between $7-8 million a year over the five-year release period to issue and distribute the new notes and replace reserve stocks.
The new notes are printed in Canada.
Newshub.
