According to sources, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has revived discussions about introducing polymer banknotes and is considering a pilot project for public circulation. The proposal was reportedly discussed at a recently held RBI board meeting. However, the RBI has not publicly announced such a programme, and no reference to polymer banknotes appears in its Annual Report for FY2025-26, released on 29 May 2026, covering the year ending 31 March 2026.

This article is not written with the assistance or input of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Perhaps you can tell!

In one of the keynote speeches at the Banknote Conference in Washington DC, which has recently concluded, the US Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) presented its long-term transformation and modernisation strategy. This is in the context of a new series of banknotes, the first of which will be issue later the year, the postponement of a proposed new production site to replace that in the centre of the capital, and investments that have already seen a 33% reduction in some production costs.

Banco de Guatemala has issued a new commemorative 100 quetzales banknote to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the central bank’s foundation.

Qatar Central Bank has issued new 5 and 10 riyal banknotes of the 5th Series with a modified design that includes Western numerals on the bottom left corner of the front of the notes, instead of the Arabic number.

This year there were five categories in the International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) Excellence in Currency Awards. The winners of two were announced and presented at the Global Currency Forum at the end of April, and the remaining three at the Banknote Conference in Washington, DC in May.

Nearly 440 people gathered at a resort hotel in Antalya, Türkiye, at the end of April for the Global Currency Forum (GCF), organised by the International Currency Association (ICA).

Did you know that some banknotes have QR codes? A QR (quick-response) code is a two-dimensional (2D) matrix barcode consisting of black and white squares that stores encoded data, such as website URLs, text or contact information. When a user scans the QR code, which can be done using a smartphone, they gain access to information about the currency, the issuing institution, or the commemorative events celebrated in the design.

China Banknote Printing & Minting Corporation’s (CBPM) development approach to banknote production is being driven by intelligent transformation and digital empowerment, both of which are being harnessed to strengthen technical innovation and propel growth.

Make no mistake; modern-day counterfeiting is as much a threat to banknote security as it’s ever been. The ubiquity and availability of digital technology and now the rise of AI in our daily lives make it easier than ever for counterfeiters ply their trade.

IN Groupe has announced Vibes Shift™, developed by its subsidiary SURYS, which specialises in optical and digital security solutions. Vibes Shift is an extension of Vibes, which launched in 2023, offering colour shift alongside movement.

OPTILIGHT™ is De La Rue’s next-generation optical security platform for banknotes. It combines nano-science, advanced optical engineering, and proprietary algorithms to deliver intuitive visual effects for public authentication.

IQ Structures (IQS) has launched nanoDOVID®, describing it as a breakthrough in optical security technology that offers a fundamentally new approach to protecting banknotes and identity documents.

Oberthur Fiduciaire unveiled two major additions to its Anima™ micro-optics platform – Anima™ Sign and Anima™ Colour – at the recent Global Currency Forum. Both innovations highlighted advances in machine readability and colour versatility, two increasingly important elements in next-generation banknote security, in addition to the integration of all the effects already available in Anima™.

At the Global Currency Forum (GCF), Jura presented their work on creating a next generation banknote design software extended with some AI functions. The presentation included a detailed review of the performance of different AI models set the task of producing an engraved portrait.

One of the main most visual environmental impacts of banknotes is not in their production but their destruction – with incineration and landfill still being all-too-frequent methods of removal. In last month’s Currency News™, we reported on the results of the 2025 Banknote Recycling Study, the latest biennial survey from Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters), which explored how central banks are handling the disposal of unfit notes in particular, and progress made (or not) since the previous survey of 2023.

This month, our periodic series of articles covering cash information in central bank annual reports focuses on Jamaica, Malaysia, Maldives, and Namibia.

Economist and financier Kevin Warsh has been confirmed as the new Chair of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, succeeding Jerome Powell, whose tenure over the past year has been marked by clashes with President Trump.

In its annual report for 2025, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) states that it navigated a complex operating environment, marked by economic volatility and geopolitical uncertainty.

You can’t move today for mention of AI, but we had expert systems as far back as the early 1970s.