News, Canada's New $100 Bill Made of Plastic. (credit card, rated)

[JD59]

Debit and credit cards may be ubiquitous, but cash is still king in Canada – and its reign won’t be ending any time soon.

As Canada unveils a new kind of currency this week, with the introduction of the country’s first polymer banknotes to replace the paper-style money used since the early 1800s, Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney believes talk of a cashless society is overblown.

Bank of Canada puts plastic $100 bill into circulation - The Globe and Mail

[lucknow]

I asked for 3 of them at the bank yesterday and they didn't have any yet.

[smihaila]

Europe had this for a looong time.

[Vichel]

Australia's had polymer notes for years too. Cleaner, not as easily counterfeited, they last much longer than paper notes.

They're great because you can put your money in your boardies' pocket, go for a swim and not have the notes become a soggy mess.

[Willsson]

I'll wait for a retina scan, considering the time and expense it would take to convert U.S. cash to something more durable.

[danielsa1775]

Originally Posted by Vichel

Australia's had polymer notes for years too. Cleaner, not as easily counterfeited, they last much longer than paper notes.

They're great because you can put your money in your boardies' pocket, go for a swim and not have the notes become a soggy mess.

Since 1988 to be precise, Polymer notes are as australian as Kangaroos.

Try ripping one up with your hands, its virtually impossible.

[Rids78]

Why would you want to rip up money?

[danielsa1775]

Originally Posted by Rids78

Why would you want to rip up money?

Paper Notes Rip, usually by accident.

With Polymer notes you can try all you want just for a bit of fun more than anything, but you will not be successful unless you attack it with a pair of scissors. Then your just plain stupid.

[sunshineleith]

Originally Posted by smihaila

Europe had this for a looong time.

Not really. One hybrid by Bulgaria in 2005 does not "Europe for a looong time" equal

From Wikipedia
Polymer banknotes
Main article: Polymer banknote
In 1983, Costa Rica and Haiti issued the first Tyvek and the Isle of Man issued the first Bradvek polymer (or plastic) banknotes; these were printed by the American Banknote Company and developed by DuPont. In 1988, after significant research and development by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Reserve Bank of Australia, Australia produced the first polymer banknote made from biaxially-oriented polypropylene (plastic), and in 1996 became the first country to have a full set of circulating polymer banknotes of all denominations. Since then, other countries to adopt circulating polymer banknotes include Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Samoa, Singapore, the Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, and Zambia, with other countries issuing commemorative polymer notes, including China, Kuwait, the Northern Bank of Northern Ireland, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Other countries indicating plans to issue polymer banknotes include Nigeria and Canada.[12] In 2005, Bulgaria issued the world's first hybrid paper-polymer banknote.
Polymer banknotes were developed to improve durability and prevent counterfeiting through incorporated security features, such as optically variable devices that are extremely difficult to reproduce.

[jambo101]

Isnt it beautiful?