Who Is Looking Forward To Plastic Notes Then?

[LazyGun]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25427663

Not me. Always thought they looked and felt cheap and just...wrong, somehow.

According to the reports, a large majority of those surveyed favoured them, which surprised me a bit.

[beso]

We have had them in Australia for decades. You get used to them trying to leap out of your wallet. That behaviour recedes after a while.

[beso]

Australia took to the polymer notes partly because they were smaller than the paper notes.

The original currency only went to twenty dollar notes and each denomination was slightly larger. By the time we got to one hundred dollars it got a bit silly and the notes simply didn't fit in a standard wallet.

The new ones all the same width made a lot more sense.

[jno]

American ones are not only the same size but the same colour; hard to tell apart. Size is a useful differentiator

[jomifl]

As long as they don't take up more space, don't melt whem accidentally ironed and don't dissolve in paint solvent, then I would have no problem with them.

[Kromovaracun]

I think they should take this chance to issue 'Most Evil Britons' notes.

You could have Mira Hindley replace the queen and then have Jack the Ripper or Oswald Mosley on the £10.

Christ, anyone would be better than Jane bl00dy Austen....

[bazwillrun]

This is all about "dirty money", money thats outside the system, grannys that have their savings in abox, ill gotten gains etc etc

people that dont use the normall methods for storing their cash for whatever reasons criminal or otherwise will have to get it all changed before it becomes useless, and that will involve filling out forms for anything less than piffling amounts.

its another step on the way to a cashless system so that everbody is forced into "the system" and can be monitored and controlled.

the reasons about note life, durability etc are valid but are purely secondary

[boxtops]

Neither here nor there to me, if they last longer that can only be a good thing. Paper money falls to bits far too quickly.

[bazwillrun]

"American ones are not only the same size but the same colour; hard to tell apart. Size is a useful differentiator "

not being funny but how would a blind person know what specific denomination they had if say they had a handful all the same eg a dollars of $10 dollar bills ?

is there no braille like marking on them ?

[ladybirder]

Can we wash them? That would be handy as bank notes are filthy things.

[woofgang]

yes they wash, will even withstand the washing machine, although not a hot iron.

[woofgang]

baz do take a pill, people have to get there money stash changed anyway when new notes are issued. its not a big deal

[LazyGun]

I must admit to being quite surprised at the generally favourable response, both in the survey and on here, and as jtp says, I am definitely in the minority ;)

I have had a lot of experience with plastic notes, having travelled and worked in Oz quite a bit for a few years in the late 90s - and Oz is the trailblazer for this kind of note. They just felt odd in my pocket, and did not seem to sit well in my wallet. I remember at the time thinking how superior good old UK currency notes were :)

I am unaware that the US is using them at the moment, so that is news.

Interesting responses though, thanks.

[bazwillrun]

@woolfgang

and what do you think one of the main reasons fro note changes is then ? eg the £20...

I even recall hearing at the time, might have been newsnight , they were "concerned" at the amount of £20 notes in the hands of drug dealers at all levels from street dealers to the top bananas,and other assorted neredowells

[bazwillrun]

Personally I couldnt care less if theyre plastic or not, hardly ever use cash anyways

[sp1814]

I first handled plastic notes in Australia a few years ago.

Got to say...I didn't like them, but if their introduction reduces incidents of forgery, then bring it on.

Not convinced by the idea of a £5 though. At some point it will make sense, taking into account inflati...

...blimey - just talking about this has reminded me about the half pence piece.

I had totally forgotten about that one...

[Dodger666]

I also saw plastic notes for the first time in Australia in 1991. I thought they were great then and am amazed it's going to take the B.O.E. 25 years to come round to introduce them here.

The fact that it's claimed we will save £100M over 10 years is enough in itself to introduce them. The only question is, why 3 years to introduce them?

[mikey4444]

Isn't this just a non-issue ? If they last longer and are not so easy to tear, what's not to like ?

[LazyGun]

"Isn't this just a non-issue " Well, its hardly the most important thing in the universe mikey, but its something that's going to impact everyone and I was curious what people thought, since I personally am not a big fan of the move.

Is that not a good enough reason to post here without being dismissed as a "non-issue"?

[redman41]

Don't see any problems as far as I'm concerned, should be OK

[mikey4444]

I am not disputing your right to place the question, just that it really doesn't seem important enough when the news is full of really important events. Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to raise this issue in ChatterBank perhaps ?