CONVENTIONAL SUBSTRATES
Security ON the substrate
- DOVID peel and abrade in circulation
- Surface security is reproducible by counterfeit-grade sticker
- Composite hybrid substrates resist clean recycling
- Service life limited by surface wear
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Over 80 countries and approximately 300 denominations currently use OVD foils on banknotes. Yet these surface-applied features share a fundamental vulnerability — they degrade through normal circulation.
Historically, foil damage and ink wear have been the primary causes of banknote degradation, rendering currency unfit for circulation and requiring replacement production. The International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IOTA) has noted that surface-applied OVD features may be downgraded through abrasion, scratching, and fading during circulation, reducing authentication reliability and increasing costs to central banks.
Data courtesy of IOTA / IHMA; BBC News, 4 January 2020
Folding, rubbing, scratching from handling
Crumpling and bending
Moisture, dirt, and UV light exposure
Oils, sweat, and cleaning agents
How can we solve these challenges?
PolyShield™ takes a fundamentally different approach to OVD security. Rather than applying the holographic element to the substrate surface — where it is exposed to the same wear mechanisms that damage all surface layers — PolyShield™ integrates the OVD within the proprietary multi-layer polymer structure, where it is structurally integrated for the full duration of the note's circulation life.
PolyShield™ integrates the OVD within the multi-layer structure, protecting it from both physical abrasion (folding, crumpling) and chemical exposure (solvents, moisture, cleaning agents). This structural containment ensures the security feature's lifespan matches the polymer substrate's own lifetime.
Because the OVD is embedded inside the substrate core, it is completely inaccessible to counterfeiters for peeling or surface analysis. This enables significantly more complex designs and upgrades, which also helps increase security, and allows printers to utilize delicate, high-performance security features on banknotes that would otherwise have insufficient durability on the surface.
Beauty fully preserved
Embedding does not diminish the visual impact of the holographic feature. PolyShield™ retains all expected brightness and brilliance of holographic security on polymer banknotes — the optical effect remains as vivid as day one throughout the note's full circulation life.
Designed for zero-disruption adoption by security printers and central banks:
Surface-applied OVDs share a fundamental vulnerability: they are subject to the same wear mechanisms that affect all surface layers. IOTA confirms that surface-applied features may be downgraded through abrasion, scratching, and fading, diminishing authentication reliability. The embedded approach eliminates this degradation pathway entirely.
OVD market data: IOTA / IHMA. UK banknote replacement data: BBC News, 4 January 2020. Integration classification based on the Engineering Currency Integrity White Paper, Q&T Hi-Tech Polymer.