Product, Feature or Process Owner Release Date (Date made available to public)
02/12/2025
Project Description
In 2025 The Reserve Bank of Fiji upgraded their banknote series with 12mm MOTION SURFACE on polymer substrate, being the first nation to do so in a legal tender. The new family of notes combine modern security technology, with the latest micro-optic stripe feature, with designs that celebrate the nation’s people, culture and nature.
Improvement of the Banknote or Printing Process
Polymer is a substrate that has trailed paper for the number of optically variable feature options for many years. Since the polymer substrate can be difficult to distinguish from other polymer products, the holographic feature has been the key level-1 feature relied on by the public, counterfeiters in some nations are making passable fakes, using stickers to emulate diffractive features. MOTION SURFACE® has never been successfully counterfeited but until recently has only been available on paper banknotes.
Increasingly, printing white ink on plastic has become easier, while sourcing highly deceptive OVD emulations has also become easier. The Reserve Bank of Fiji’s new polymer series addresses this growing security weakness by using MOTION SURFACE on polymer.
By adopting MOTION SURFACE across all denominations, the Reserve Bank of Fiji is ensuring that its new banknotes are protected by a proven, state-of-the-art security feature that is both highly secure and easy for the public to use. The micro-optic effects used in the MOTION SURFACE stripe are all already tested in perception studies to provide quick authentication in different lighting conditions. The Fiji notes have a transparent window in the middle of the stripe which can be verified from both the front and reverse by the micro-optic effects showing through.
Innovation and Unique aspects
The process for applying MOTION SURFACE® to polymer banknotes require a proprietary adhesive system specially engineered for non-porous polymer substrate. Unlike the first generation of adhesives for MOTION SURFACE on paper which require additional UV-curing, e.g., when applied via the OptiNota-H, the MOTION SURFACE on Polymer system requires no additional drying, and is applied inline on current models of foil application equipment. The adhesive is engineered to have superior durability for exceptional longevity in circulation. The marriage of this novel adhesive and the clear and complex windows designed into polymer banknotes, allows secure visual effects to be designed into the reverse-side of MOTION SURFACE on Polymer.
Environmental Impact
Changing the substrate to polymer was an initiative made to make Fiji’s currency cleaner and more durable, reducing the need to re-print as often. The polymer notes with the MOTION SURFACE® feature will be recycled into other polymer products once worn out. The micro-optic stripe does not interfere with the recycling process in any way.
Image of the new feature shown on at least one issued banknote or an image of the new product
Crane Currency Detailed Design MOTION SURFACE On Polymer Only