New look money unveiled

The Reserve Bank has this afternoon unveiled its bolder, brighter new banknotes it says will combat counterfeiters.

The new notes still feature the same famous faces, flowers, and birds but have greater colour contrast, bolder print and larger security windows.

They also feature more te reo Maori.

The notes will cost about $80 million to print, plus an additional $40 million for the security features.

The Reserve Bank said the new notes were needed in response to improving counterfeiting technology.

"Well we've got to be aware of the counterfeiting risks," he said.

"When counterfeiting does occur it's a serious issue. It costs a significant amount of money and resources to address it at the time, so you want to stay ahead of it."