KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said on Monday that both Rs500 banknotes with or without the Optical Variable Ink (OVI) flag are genuine, provided all other security features are intact.

With regard to news reports about the authenticity of Rs500 banknotes without the OVI flag, the SBP said it introduced the new design of Rs500 notes in 2006.

Later on, another security feature, the colour-shifting flag made of OVI, was added to enhance the anti-counterfeiting resilience and ease in identification by the general public.

This resulted in the availability of both types of Rs500 banknotes: those issued in 2006-09 without OVI and those issued post-January 25, 2010 with the OVI feature, the central bank added.

Published in Dawn, March 28th, 2017