Q&T Hi-Tech Polymer (Q&T), the latest arrival to the polymer substrate market, has announced that it has made remarkable progress since its establishment three years ago by securing its third contract for supply of Polysecure for the Vietnamese currency.

Koenig & Bauer, in its report on its first quarter results, gave further details of its Spotlight programme, launched earlier this year to prioritise initiatives and business models that boost earnings and financial strength, deprioritise initiatives that do not directly impact earnings and optimise the group and segment organisation as well as the indirect cost structure to make processes even leaner and more customer-friendly.

New Zealand adopted polymer banknotes in 1999. At the time, Brian Lang was Head of Currency at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). To mark the 25th anniversary of polymerisation, we sat down with Brian to discuss the rationale behind the transition and assess its results.

The Bank of England has now put into circulation the new series of notes bearing the portrait of King Charles III.

Researchers at the Centre for Pattern Recognition and Machine Intelligence (CENPARMI) at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada have utilised image-mining techniques and machine learning algorithms to identify flaws in counterfeit coins, enabling greater detection of fakes.

At the Optical & Digital Document Security™ (ODDS) conference in in Lisbon this April, Michael Natan, President of Diametryx Inc, presented his new company’s intriguing colour-change particles in which the effects change not only by tilting, but shaking as well.

Is dollarisation a cure-all for unstable, hyper-inflationary nations? It is very hard to make that judgement, especially since stronger currencies, whether it be the dollar or euro, are also subject to changes in their value which may or may not benefit the dollarised economies in the short-term.

Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBNS) has run its ‘Equinox’ customer event in parallel with the DRUPA print conference and through into June. It has used the event to showcase what it does, to launch a number of new developments, particularly its AKTINA™ product, and to make the case for thinking about banknotes, and banknote printing differently.

At the Banknote Conference in May, Guilmar Ernesto Moncayo Ponce from the Bank of Mexico provided information about progress on the first of a three phase project looking at the presence and role of micro-organisms on banknotes.

According to the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS), a significant milestone concerning the new Caribbean guilder has been reached, namely the printing of the first new banknotes.

In this article, Kerre Corbin of Kerrency details what happens to counterfeits when they are handed in and considers whether these notes included in the counterfeiting statistics reported by central banks.

Glory – the Japanese developer of cash handling, management and automation systems for the financial, retail, vending, transportation and gaming sectors – has reported an impressive increase in sales for 2023-24 and a return to profit, driven largely by a resurgence in the domestic market.

As Currency News™ went to press, De La Rue provided a strategic update which states that a sale of one or both divisions could be on the cards. The Board is in discussions with a number of parties who have made proposals in relation to, or expressed interest in, either of the divisions – Authentication and Currency.

There was a time when the market for polymer substrates, albeit small, was dominated by one supplier. The market grew, and so did the number of suppliers, CCL Secure and GUARDIAN™ being joined by De La Rue with SAFEGUARD®.

Just over a year ago, CPS announced that it was exiting the market for high-speed banknote sorting systems and pivoting to software and services. It was then back in force at the Banknote Conference, unveiling its new strategy for sustainability, flexibility and digitisation for the banknote fitness sorting and authentication sector.

The Banknote Conference took place 13-16 May in Fort Worth, Texas. Organised by Currency Research, it was attended by nearly 425 delegates from 72 countries and 183 organisations. Of those, 92 were central banks and/or printworks.

A forum is a meeting where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged, and that is the aim of the Cash Sustainability Forum, providing the opportunity for all stakeholders involved in cash to meet, share, understand and learn.

The CBDC Conference take place from 10-12 September in Istanbul. The conference organiser has now published the first tranche of confirmed speakers, 15 of whom are from central banks, as well as the International Monetary Fund.

Towards the end of 2023, Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters) carried out an extensive survey involving central banks globally, in partnership with Reconnaissance International.

The third DENARIA Conference recently took place in Madrid, with a focus on how cash can ensure a fair, inclusive and secure digital transition, particularly in a country where cash continues to be the main payment method for a very significant number of citizens.