The Bank of Zambia says it will this month start circulating upgraded bank notes with new security features as a way of strengthening the notes against counterfeiting.

But he assured the public that the upgraded notes will co-circulate with the current notes.

The Bank of Zambia would like to inform the public that it will be issuing into circulation banknotes that have been upgraded with new security features. The new security features have been included in order to strengthen the security of the banknotes against counterfeiting and for easy verification by members of the public,” the bank said in a statement.

The Bank therefore will always take measures that adequately protect the local including continually adopting more advanced security feature.

It said the notes that have been upgraded include K20, K50 and K100 denominations and that a new security feature called SPARKLIVE has been incorporated in the figure on the lower right hand side.

BoZ said the security feature will exhibit three overt visual characteristics such as color- shift properties, optical brightness and dynamic light effects.

It is also stated that the ‘birds in flight’ feature has shifted from the right edge of the back of the banknote to the left edge and that “The tactile mark” for the visually impaired have now been put on both edges of the banknotes to enhance tactility or the feel effect.

For the K2 and K5 denominations, the bank said different images, a dove, text K2 and K5 will appear as a new glossy varnish with a blind embossing for ease of identification.

The bank further said the upgraded notes will be circulated in phases starting with the K2 and K5 denominations in August 2018 and that the existing notes will not be withdrawn until the end of their circulation life.

Source : Mwebantu