With new security improvements, the $20 bill has a different appearance.

The new currency series of bank notes represents an ongoing commitment to protect U.S. currency, according to a Federal Reserve press release. The $50 bill and $100 bills also have been redesigned.

None of the basic elements of the bill have changed, but it has been redone to make the note less prone to counterfeiting.

Some of the major changes include a larger, off-center portrait of Andrew Jackson, a watermark portrait in the upper right hand corner, color-shifting ink, an embedded security thread, a low-vision “20” on the back and mircoprinting inside the “20” in the lower left-hand corner and underneath the portrait.

“I have heard of some [Ames] companies that are having their employees check the bills very closely,” said Terry Wycoff, president of First National Bank, headquartered at 5th Street and Burnett Avenue. “Employees are told to flip the bill over and check the back of it to distinguish it from other redesigned bills.”

According to the Federal Reserve, the new $20 bill also includes a capability that will allow the development of technology to help the blind determine the value of currency. The new $20 and $50 notes also have large numerals on the back that make the notes easier for the vision-impaired to read.

“I have not heard any bad feedback about the new bill,” Wycoff said. “The people I have talked to are pleased with the redesign.”

Because of the widespread use of the bill, nearly two million pamphlets and thousands of training videos and CD-ROMS were ordered by companies and business organizations from the Federal Reserve. Also, a series of seminars by the Secret Service in 20 different cities were presented to thousands of business leaders before the bill was put into circulation.

“The reason this is getting so much attention is because the bill is the most widely used [of the redesigned bills] because it is a smaller denomination, so more people have it in their pockets,” Wycoff said. “After a while, people will get used to it, and it will become more widely accepted.”

The United States Treasury and Federal Reserve also have enacted a comprehensive public education campaign, which includes outreach to major retailers, financial institutions, business organizations, constituency groups, news media, schools and the general public, according to a press release.

The Federal Reserve has set plans in motion to redesign the $10, $5 and $1 bills in the next few years.

All denominations of currency will have security features, and the number of features will vary by denomination, according to the Federal Reserve. The $20, $50 and $100 notes will have more features than the lower denominations.