Studio Brief 1 - Security Of Money CAN POST

With 1 note in 5000 being fake and Bank of England revealing that there are 566,000 counterfeit notes in the UK, counterfeiting money is one of the oldest crimes in history. In the 19th century it became a huge problem when banks produced their own currency. In this period of the civil war it was estimated that one-third of all currency in circular was counterfeit. With every day technology is advancing and in the 21st century, tough measures are being placed on the production of bank notes to ensure the security of currency is impenetrable. On the surface of most bank notes it's evident to see that by the texture and different print finishes that the security features have been firmly implemented but understanding how they're produced is kept a secret from the public for obvious reasons. 

Questions would be asked about how long paper notes can be secured for until technology is advanced enough where keeping notes secure is no long viable. The security aspect of paper notes are personally the only reason left to why paper notes are still widely used today. Digital currency is taking over which seems like a safer and hassle free way of stopping counterfeiting due to finger print security options that become impossible to break. However digital currency is often subject to hackers and cyber crimes by fraudsters tapping into the contactless feature of credit cards. 

Lastly, when does the security features ruin the aesthetics and design of the card? If paper notes become more secured then the whole style and aesthetics of the bank note will become overpowered and busy — clashing with colours and images just for the sake of security. Security is crucial for the future of paper notes but if the security features take over then the bank notes no longer become a bank note. The whole structure and build of a bank note would essentially need to be redesigned to insure maximum security is off the highest priority with little input from design aesthetics or style.

Below are three images that demonstrate how many security features on one note. It opens your eyes to the lengths banks go to in order to secure and get one step ahead of criminals.