The International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) has announced the finalists of the 2024 Excellence in Currency Technical Awards. The winners for all four categories will be announced at the Banknote Conference Awards Dinner on the evening of 15 May.

All of the key themes facing the banknote industry were covered at the High Security Printing Asia conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, held at the beginning of December.

The Hologram Image Register, established by the International Hologram Manufacturers Association (IHMA) to help safeguard hologram copyright and underpin the use of holograms in secure documents and products, has been extended to include all optically variable (or active) features, and relaunched as the Security Image Register.

Readers will recall in earlier editions that we addressed a number of significant highlights following G+D`s Currency Technology Symposium held in July. This is the final story, focusing on key elements of the day dedicated to Louisenthal, G+D’s substrate and feature subsidiary.

Earlier this year Giesecke+Devrient outlined a solution for banknote waste which is ‘straightforward, flexible and scalable’ (see CN July 2023). After having introduced the concept of Banknote Fibre Extraction (BFE) at the CT Symposium, the next development phase has taken place.

In this issue, we describe the industry’s newest banknote production facility – IMBISA in Spain. Another example of a new printworks that has also built innovation in from the start is Guangzhou Banknote Printing Co Ltd (GBPC), the seventh and newest of China Banknote Printing and Minting’s banknote factories.

UnderCurrency was established in 2019 as a technical consultancy service. We are based in Mexico and specialise in methodologies, solutions and systems for evaluating and enhancing the security, functionality and durability of secure documents and banknotes.

German-based ISRA Vision’s BankSTAR family of in-line inspection solution has been extended by a version for security thread microslitting – BankSTAR TS.

Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) has introduced the next iteration in its computer-to-intaglio plate technology with CTiP III, which it claims has a better ecological impact as well as offering new intaglio engraving opportunities to printers.

Koenig & Bauer Banknotes Solutions (KBBS) is forging ahead with its agenda to create physical-digital technology bridges with the announcement of two new partnerships linked to digital authentication.