Currency News™ reported in November 2023 on the Guangzhou Banknote Printing Company and its ‘intelligent’ factory. Now China Banknote Ink Co is following on with an Integrated Operation Centre.

467,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation in 2023, according to the European Central Bank, which is one of the lowest levels ever since the introduction of the euro in 2002 in proportion to total banknotes in circulation.

Rather than have a regional focus in this month’s coverage of cash information in central bank annual reports, we are doing a general catch-up this month, with news from the recently-issued reports of the central banks of Fiji, Romania and Russia.

In 2021, Currency News™ issued a special supplement – Concept Notes: Art, Design and Security in One – which reviewed the latest and best ‘concept’ or ‘house’ notes. Following the success of this supplement, we will issue the second version in 2024, covering the newest concept notes over the intervening period.

All eyes on Africa as Egypt hosts spectacular ACF; Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBS) teams with SONECT for access to cash...

The Bank of Japan and the Finance Ministry have announced that the redesigned 10,000, 5,000 and 1,000 yen banknotes will enter circulation on 3 July 2024, which marks the first update of the notes in around two decades.

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.

Currency News™ spoke to Mr Junya Shimada – Executive Operating Officer and Group General Manager – about the company’s foundations, its current focus, its philosophy and how it plans to leverage this to go forward in an ever-changing social and technological landscape.

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.

Cash technology solutions specialist Glory has announced the acquisition of additional shares in the fintech OneBanx, the fully managed shared banking solutions provider.

Polymer appears to be something of a ‘thing’ in this issue. So, having heard from one established and one emerging polymer substrate manufacturer – De La Rue and Spectra Systems respectively – it seems only fair to hear from the second established manufacturer, CCL Secure, who has provided an end of year summary for GUARDIAN™.

This year’s prestigious Regional Banknote of the Year Awards for Asia were presented at a special ceremony during the High Security Printing™ (HSP) Asia conference earlier this month.

The growth of the internet and social media has been accompanied by a growth in fake news and a fall in traditional, fact-checked journalism. Articles and claims can be circulated freely without appropriate governance. Fake news on a range of issues has incited violence and hate while changing behaviours and influencing politics. It can also damage reputations and lead to unfair advantages.

Danmarks Nationalbank has carried out an analysis of the role of cash in a low cash usage society. 10% of payments are still made in cash and there are groups in society for whom cash is important whether out of necessity or choice. The result is that changes will be made to the currency.

Many people fall victim to the ‘Black Money’ scam, which is basically a get rich quick scheme. Usually there are no counterfeit banknotes involved, but I thought this would be an interesting topic to discuss.

De La Rue appears to be enjoying a rebound following multiple new contract wins and growing demand for banknotes.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has issued the findings of its Product Environment Footprint (PEF) study, which focuses on the creation and life cycle of banknotes through to their disposal when they become unfit to circulate.

In 2023, we decided to drop Industry Watch – the quarterly review of the share performance of listed companies in our sector – and provide an annual summary instead.

Spectra Systems Corporation has agreed to buy security printer Cartor Holdings in a deal worth up to £10.5 million. It has described the move as a strategic acquisition to bolster its position in the polymer banknote substrate market.

Hueck Folien, a family owned company based in Baumgartenberg, Austria has been supplying security products – initially security threads, followed by holographic/diffractive stripes – to the banknote industry for 35 years.