All of the key themes facing the banknote industry were covered at the High Security Printing (HSP) Asia conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, held earlier this month.
To being the proceedings, the platinum sponsors, De La Rue, hosted a Future of Banknotes seminar for central banks, followed by afternoon tea at the British High Commission in Colombo.
The following day, before the main conference started, there were two banknote related seminars.
One by counterfeit specialist Kerre Corbin used a real life counterfeiting story, delving deep into Operation Timerbrier in the UK, and how police pieced together a case which saw a father and son team jailed for the counterfeit of nearly £1 million of Scottish banknotes.
The other, by Secura Monde International, was on how to master machine authentication. This seminar included speakers from Crane’s CPI business, Glory and SICPA. Between them they laid out the key definitions, principles and approaches to ensuring banknotes function efficiently and effectively across the wide range of non-public security features.
The main programme led off with a welcome speech from the Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr P Nandalal Weerasinghe, followed by an overview of currency management in the country. There was also presentation from John Winchcombe, Editor of Cash & Payment News™, looking at what has happened to banknotes and payment in the region since the last HSP Asia conference in 2019.
Three take aways were offered:
That the design age profile of notes in the region suggested upgrades and new designs were needed.
That the take up of bank accounts and the use of digital payments were rising in parallel, suggesting the use of cash could be about to start to decline
That responses to the Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering survey, which Reconnaissance had supported, about how countries repurpose unfit banknotes in the region, showed progress had been made to move away from using landfill but there was the opportunity to do much more.
The second session focused on currency developments.
Komori is celebrating its centenary in 2023 and has opened its Komori Global Centre and produced a ‘Power to the Print – Technology that Empowers’ Phoenix 2023 housenote to mark this working with Jura, Landqart and SICPA.
De La Rue’s SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate is ten years old. This presentation made the case for polymer banknotes providing evidence that it performs well in diverse environments. It has introduced designs into issuing authorities in 25 tropical, 10 dry and 12 temperate climates.
China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation gave an overview of housenotes created for the 24th Beijing Winter Olympic Games, showcasing its security features and design capabilities. The notes were co-winners of the conference’s Best Regional Banknote of the Year Awards in the commemorate category.
Hueck Folien produces security threads for 70 countries and 200 denominations. They talked about their environmental work, such as using recycled aluminium to save 85% of CO2, along with products such as ColorSwitch™, Trilumic® and Optomove® and more.
Landqart, Oberthur, Kurz and SURYS (IN Groupe) gave a tour de force of the latest security features available. Landqart showed how durability and security went together using its Durasafe® substrate. Its latest ‘Swatch’ housenote, incorporating SUSI Optiks® Jazz™, illustrated the point.
Oberthur showcased its thread manufacturing credentials and track record, introducing Anima™, micro lens with sharp colours, and Pulsar™, micro lenses with colourshift.
KURZ explained KINEGRAM® technologies used in threads and applied features. It has partnered with a very wide range of suppliers and central banks, seeing this as the way to deliver best value to all. It has also made significant progress on sustainability.
Finally, SURYS explained how IN Groupe has positioned itself through acquisitions to be able to offer identity, secure solutions and services based on companies with a long history of success in this sector. The presentation focused on the MOOV™ thread which combines micro animation and relief effects and nano for optical colours.
With nine state printing works in attendance at the conference, the currency production and automation session were of great interest. G+D made the case that the highest banknote security is achieved by seeing the creating of a banknote as a system, with its level 3 security feature ‘M’ being the key component for central bank security.
In contrast, Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) focused on the future role of banknotes in creating value for society, the economy and the environment. This was very much about working to ensure banknotes were part of the digital future serving societies wider needs, starting with producing them efficiently and effectively.
The National Bank of Kyrgyz told the story of its new banknote series (which earned it the Best New Series in the Regional Banknote of the Year awards – see page 15). This was created with the help of KBBS, who acted as consultants, who helped ensure that the two printers, Crane and Oberthur, worked to create a seamless new series based on Landqart’s Durasafe substrate.
Finally, Gleitsmann, now part of the IN Groupe, introduced its Mouveink Traffic Light and Mouveink Polar security features, which through a combination of proprietary pigments provide a series of unique effects under UV light, including an afterglow.
Vacuumatic may have a niche position in the production value chain but, as this presentation made clear, what it does, the counting of substrates, is key.
Hunkeler Systems started by reviewing how central banks are disposing of unfit banknotes. It pointed out that mixed substrates are becoming the norm, and that separation is key to destruction. Not surprisingly, it offers a full range of options.
Blendpaper explained how they are able to recycle both waste from the paper making process and shredded printed banknote paper waste and reuse it to make new paper. Samples of a banknote made on these recycled banknote shreds were available.
In the final session of the conference, Jura presented their journey from their Security Print Authentication System (SPAS) 1.0 to 2.0 creating an interactive banknote, although the SPAS 2.0 is not yet a completed project. The system works on analysing colour, density and line structures. 2.0 will work with a wide range of phones, be design independent, work offline and have software designed for continuous improvement.
IQ Structures does ‘nano’, that is its area of expertise allowing it to offer highly visible and dynamic effects. It presented its Magical Bilbao housenote and also demonstrated how its solution can interact with smart phones.
KBBS presented its Central Bank Solutions offer. Details were given about five projects completed this year, one of which was for the National Bank of Kyrgyz, but also Algeria, Pakistan, Mauritania and South Africa.
Finally, Micaal Sidorov of the International Hologram Manufacturers Association unveiled the Security Image Register (SIR). This is an expansion of the Hologram Image Register that will enable feature developers, printers and issuers to register all their optically variable features in a secure registry to help protect copyright and avoid lookalikes (see above).
HSP Asia was one of those happy conferences with opportunities to meet and talk alongside the full width of presentations on what matters to central banks and the industry and what is happening in the region. There was something for everybody in a wonderful country and with full support from the central bank.
