The new polymer $50 bill arrives in March, while the rest of the denominations – the $20, $10 and $5 – will be released in 2013. The thin, shiny, high-tech, recyclable bill, released Monday by the Bank of Canada, is reportedly almost impossible to rip and thought to be nearly counterfeit-proof, according to the bank and news reports. Canada is one of about 30 countries to have ditched paper-style bills, including Australia, which pioneered the use of polymer bills in the 1980s. "We've been working with the market for over two years to make sure that ATMs and all banknote-processing equipment are ready for these polymer notes," the bank's scientific adviser, Martine Warren, told The Globe and Mail. “We distributed test notes and advance designs of the genuine notes to machine manufacturers far earlier than we have in the past to make sure that the circulation system is ready for these polymer notes.” 
 
 The Bank of Canada has been working with the banking sector on the development of electronic payments, but the central bank has no plans to reduce the amount of banknotes in circulation.
– Starting this week, you can pay with plastic in Canada—without incurring any credit card debt. The Bank of Canada put a new $100 bill made out of polymer into circulation, the Globe and Mail reports, and banks stopped issuing the old paper notes Monday afternoon. Polymer $50 bills are coming in March, followed by $20, $10, and $5 bills in 2013. The notes, made of multiple layers of plastic and almost impossible to tear, will be more difficult to counterfeit and will last longer than paper money. They’re also recyclable, USA Today notes. Despite an increasing number of attempts to make cashless transactions possible, the central bank’s governor said while unveiling the new bills that “reports of the death of cash are greatly exaggerated,” and as such, “Canadians … need a currency that they can trust.” Australia also uses polymer bills, and has since the 1980s; about 30 countries in total have moved away from paper currency.