Design testing is not easy but is good practice. Ernesto Gonzalez Candela of Mexican firm UnderCurrency, which offers consulting services and products to assess and improve the performance of banknotes and coins, presented a new tool at the Optical and Digital Document Security conference in April to help central banks optimise their banknote designs and have confidence that they will perform in circulation.

De la Rue has announced its results for the financial year ending March 2023. These were eagerly awaited following a trading update issued by the company April (see CN April 2023).

Banknote users see a holistic banknote when they transact but our industry doesn’t always think holistically. A significant proportion of our time is focussed on individual components and, whilst these are incredibly important, we risk overlooking the essential role of integration in unlocking the next wave of banknote innovation.

The independent think tank CashEssentials has launched two new initiatives – the Cash Academic Network and the Cash Associations’ Forum – both aimed at building bridges within different groups of the cash community.

Whilst NCR appears to be going from strength to strength, the same cannot be said of Diebold Nixdorf, No 2 in the marketplace.

If you are responsible for the design and issue of a new banknote, you face a daunting task. As the latest edition of Currency News™ suggests, it can be a complex and unenviable undertaking. Frankly, good luck!

In this, the latest in our monthly summary of central bank annual reports, we look at Thailand, India, Peru, Tunisia, Timor-Leste, Ukraine and Hong Kong.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced the withdrawal of the 2,000 rupee banknote from circulation, albeit that it will continue to be legal tender. Even so, the public is being urged to exchange the notes before 30 September, marking the end of this denomination which was only introduced in 2016.

As the crisis in Sudan appears to be sliding inexorably towards civil war, the UN and its non-governmental partners are planning for a protracted humanitarian catastrophe.

Further to holding the inaugural Global Currency Forum in May last year, the International Currency Association (ICA) has recently issued a white paper on cash policy as part of its advocacy work, and welcomed a new Chair and Vice Chair.

In a continuation of our new series in Currency News providing a summary of the latest central bank annual reports to be released, this month is the turn of the Bahamas, Canada, Jamaica, Mauritius, Nepal and the UAE.

Blendpaper was one of the presenters in the second episode of the Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum™ online seminar series on repurposing unfit cotton banknotes.

The Currency Conference gala dinner on 16 May hosted the presentation of the latest International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) 2021 Technical Excellence in Currency Awards.

Welcome to ‘Kerre’s Counterfeit Corner’. This new monthly column will cover many aspects of counterfeit banknotes and periodically include interesting counterfeit examples.

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has released an upgraded set of banknotes and coins, which feature enhanced security features, colour, and – for the coins – new fauna and flora.

Giesecke+Devrient will be holding its customer event – the G+D Currency Technology Symposium – from 17-20 July at its headquarters in Munich.

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has acquired MECOMO AG, a specialist in tracking and tracing solutions for an undisclosed sum.

Authentix has announced that it is now in commercial production of the world’s first CDI2 compliant banknote detectors including GemVision™, a CDI2 compliant fitness solution for the determination of banknote quality.

Glory – the Japanese developer of cash handling, management and automation systems for the financial, retail, vending, transportation and gaming sectors – saw sales recover in 2022-23.

Gleitsmann Security Inks (GIS) used the Currency Conference to launch glairINK , a new suite of infrared (IR) inks for intaglio and offset printing that, the company says, sets a new standard in future machine-readable security features for banknotes.