The next HSP EMEA 2023 event will be held in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, on 4-6 March 2024 and the organisers are expecting a sell-out event, with key decision makers from central banks, suppliers and printers coming together to discuss and learn about a range of topics from cash usage and trends in the region, sustainability and resilience in print to physical and digital technologies, security features and design.

Cash & Payment News™ (CPN) is the sister publication to Currency News™. It was first published in July 2018 as the successor to Payment News Quarterly and, while Currency News focuses on the product that is ‘cash’, CPN has concentrated on the use of cash once issued.

How many counterfeit banknotes are in circulation? I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked this question. So, let’s look at how counterfeit banknotes are found and reported.

The Central Bank of Argentina has approved the printing of 10,000 and 20,000 peso banknotes, amid continuing high inflation.

This is the first in a series of articles that explores the cultural aspect of money that goes beyond its function as a means of payment or store of value. Many societies have a long-standing tradition of gifting money (banknotes and coins) to mark auspicious occasions – births and birthdays, weddings and other special events, where the value of the gift is as much social as it is financial.

The Banknote Conference is the industry’s premier technology-focused event with a long and rich history of hosting the world’s technology experts from central banks, printing works, and industry suppliers and providing an unparalleled opportunity to discuss emerging trends, technologies, and innovation.

This month’s coverage of cash information in central bank annual reports contains news from the central banks of Rwanda and Uganda.

The start of 2024 has been marked by a series of acquisitions in the minting community.

COP 28 in December last year provided evidence that the climate is changing, and we are struggling to do what is needed to mitigate or adapt to the change. Given this is the only planet we have, and we are all on this place together, sustainability is relevant to us as individuals and to our work.

Under the new leadership of Vijay Ranjan Singh, who was appointed its Managing Director last year, SPMCIL recently released its 2022/23 Annual Report, registering a growth of 20.35% in revenue to Rs 49.18 billion.

As has been customary at the start of the year in the past, we have invited stakeholders and other participants in the cash community to give their views on key trends and likely developments for the coming year.

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.

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.

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.

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™.

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 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.

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.