The awards presentation coincided with the holding of the Banknote 2014 Conference, which was attended by the Governor of the Bank of Mauritius -Manou Bheenick.
Polymer banknote of Rs 25 and the Rs 500 issued by the BoM in August 2013 were among the four shortlisted in the category "Best New Currency Feature of Product". Provided by Oberthur Fiduciaire, banknote Rs 25 was chosen for safety features "Swing" while that of Rs 500 was chosen for those called "Spark Orbital" by the firm De La Rue. Rs 25 banknote won the 2nd prize, second one provided by the company Louisenthal the Bank Al-Maghrib.
New polymer banknotes of Rs 25, Rs 50 and Rs 500 are very similar to paper one. They contain several security features, including a transparent window showing the image of the dodo, printed with magnetic ink numbers - which fluoresce under ultraviolet light - and the characteristics of "swing" printed in ink Iridescent, which change color when they are observed in a transparent or at an inclined angle.
Polymer banknotes had been circulated alongside the existing paper. The BoM has worked with banks and users of money to support a smooth transition to the new banknotes. It announces the start of a study to determine how polymer notes are used and the impact on the physical nature of the notes. A comparison between paper tickets and those polymer will be established and, in the light of the results of this study, the central bank could decide if there rather than going to the polymer in terms of the other denominations.