The arrival of cryptocurrencies poses a fundamental challenge for cash cycle operators and banknote printers. For those firms that can successfully pivot, there are new market opportunities, including the challenge of how to integrate banknotes into a future digital payments economy.

Due to the pandemic, Currency Research combined the Banknote and Currency Conferences last year into one event, which took place in February in Washington DC. But now it is reverting to the traditional sequence of holding the events separately, starting with the Currency Conference, which takes place in Mexico City from 15-18 May.

Jamaica’s Finance and Public Service Minister, Dr Nigel Clarke, has said that the country’s new series of banknotes will be ready to be released to the general public by mid-June, with a publicity campaign to prepare the public ready to roll out imminently.

META Materials Inc, a developer of high performance functional materials and nanocomposites which acquired security feature specialist Nanotech Security Corp in 2021, has announced its results for 2022, and raised concerns about its future viability unless additional funding can be secured.

Last month, we covered the annual results of five of the major companies in the cash sector. This month is the turn of Prosegur, Spectra Systems and Orell Füssli, all of whom turned in a good performance for the year.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is preparing to launch a new pilot project using QR code-based Coin Vending Machines (QCVM) in order to improve coin distribution in the country.

In the current time of great uncertainty, with multiple crises colliding, the supply of cash plays a central role in securing a functioning economic system. At the same time, the cash infrastructure is coming under pressure economically. Thus, a resilient cash cycle that adapts quickly to changing circumstances is becoming increasingly important for central banks.

Whether it was a full resumption of post-COVID international travel, the venue or the quality of the programme, or a combination of all three. But the High Security Printing™ (HSP) conference that took place at the W Hotel on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi was a sell-out.

Crane Currency has launched RAPID® Vision, which it describes as a new, innovative and intelligent micro-optic security thread for banknotes that brings high-contrast colour movement to a new level.

The prestigious Regional Banknote and ID Document of the Year Awards form part of the industry’s High Security Printing™ (HSP) EMEA conference. This year’s event was held in Abu Dhabi, with the awards presented at a special ceremony during the conference dinner on 8 March.

Composting unfit cotton banknotes that have been shredded sits higher in the waste disposal hierarchy than sending it to landfill or burning it for energy recovery.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing has filed two RFIs to improve ‘counterfeit deterrent features on future’ US currency, specifying that the proposals should have deterrent features that are ‘novel and not otherwise in commercial use of the public domain.’

Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP) has released a new 20 zloty commemorative banknote dedicated to the famous Polish astronomer, economist and mathematician Nicolaus Copernicus, marking the 550th anniversary of his birth, and the 480th anniversary of his death.

All arrangements are now in place for this year’s High Security Printing (HSP) EMEA, which takes place 7-9 March in Abu Dhabi. Attendance is at near capacity for the three day event, which includes two pre-conference seminars and two days of plenary sessions split into tracks covering currency and identification.

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) has unveiled a commemorative banknote to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Annemieke de Gooijer from the Dutch National Bank (DNB) presented in November at the Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum™ in Edinburgh on the Dutch experience of including sustainability in its procurement processes.

The online database that comes free with your subscription to Currency News™ (and its sister publications Coin & Mint News™ and Cash & Payment News™) has changed.

In October, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that the three highest naira denominations (the N 200, 500 and 1,000) were being redesigned and reissued, with a six week period between issue and demonetisation (from 19 December to 31 January).

Each February it is customary in Currency News™ to cover the annual results for 2022 for the leading companies in cash management, which is when most are published, with their success (or otherwise) providing a useful means of taking the pulse of our industry.

Currency Research will be holding the inaugural Silk Road Cash & Payments Conference in Almaty from 27-29 March.