Demonetisation has had something of a bad press in recent years, the disruption caused by the removal of the 500 and 1,000 rupees in India of 2016 and, more recently, Nigeria’s naira redesign being cases in point.

Bulgaria is delaying its entry into the eurozone, and is likely to adopt the single currency in January 2025, as opposed to 2024 as originally planned.

Security features embedded into the substrate of a banknote are particularly difficult for counterfeiters to replicate effectively – and the technology behind these features has advanced significantly in the past several years.

The July issue of Cash & Payment News™ – our sister publication, analyses how cash is used and the wider payments eco-system.

Let’s talk statistics, even though it is not my favourite subject!

To mark the 50th anniversary of the creation in June 1973 of the ouguiya (MRU) as the national currency of the West African state of Mauritania, the Banque Centrale de Mauritanie is issuing a commemorative MRU 50 banknote on not one but three different substrates.

According to China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPM), it has been working on sustainable development for some time and has developed a range of solutions to increase the use of clean energy and efficiency.

The prestigious Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s annual High Security Printing™ (HSP) Latin America conference.

This month I would like to discuss the proliferation of novelty notes, which are purchased online and used in exchange for goods and services.

The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) has issued a new 20 pound (LE) note on polymer, following the issue of a polymer LE10 last year.

SUSI Optics® Jazz™, the latest addition to the SUSI Optics® family of optically variable features for banknotes, was launched at the Currency Conference in May, with a stunning specimen note produced to demonstrate the spectrum of opportunities it offers.

Nassau, the Bahamas was the spectacular setting for the 10th HSP (High Security Printing) Latin America conference, which welcomed 250 delegates from 118 organisations and 36 countries, over half from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Nominations are now open for the MDC’s prestigious Coin Awards. Last held in 2018, the awards recognise industry achievements in the design, production and packaging of coins, as well as, for the first time, sustainability in minting.

At the Currency Conference in May, Dieter Sauter, Vice President & General Manager Value Printing for Bundesdruckerei, unveiled the concept behind the ‘Dark Banknote Series‘, and the first note in this series (ExNihilo), which is the result of the SIRALab initiative.

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.

The European Commission, the European Union’s executive arm, has published a proposal on the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins. The proposal is part of the Single Currency legislative package which also includes a legal text on a digital euro.

The Bank of Jamaica’s new banknote series has now gone into circulation, marking a complete transition to polymer for the country’s currency.

SICPA has formally inaugurated the unlimitrust campus, the world’s first centre of excellence dedicated to the Economy of Trust which is assembling innovation players into one single community.

NCR Corporation is the market leader in self-service banking and payment solutions, with a turnover of $7.83 billion in 2022, more than double that of its nearest rival, Diebold Nixdorf (see below).

In its annual report for 2022-23, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has provided details of the financial performance of its minting and banknote printing subsidiaries South African Mint (SAM) and South African Bank Note (SABN).