Hungary is the latest country to intervene in the cash cycle to ensure ongoing access to cash for its citizens in light of declining usage, with a new regulation from Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) governing minimum requirements for the number of ATMs operated by commercial 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.

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.

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.

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.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas was awarded the 2023 Public First Award during the event’s Appreciation Dinner on 14 March, in a ceremony at the Xara Lodge, Rabat, Malta.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.’

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 Japanese government has appointed academic Kazuo Ueda as the next Bank of Japan Governor. He was a member of the BoJ’s policy board between 1998 and 2005, and before that an economics professor at the University of Tokyo. He will succeed Haruhiko Kuroda, whose second five-year term ends in April.

Back by popular demand, the latest edition of The Directory of Currency & Technology Suppliers is now being compiled. This sought-after directory is an essential resource for central banks and issuers, printers and mints, and everyone in the cash cycle to identify suppliers and partners.

Francois Charles Oberthur (Oberthur) has acquired a 65.5% stake in Rolling Optics, a Swedish developer of micro-optics technology, for a sum believed to be in the region of $15-20 million.

2022 saw the second lowest level of counterfeits as a proportion of total banknotes in circulation in the history of the euro (2021 being the lowest year).

The Bank of Israel has announced that most new coins entering circulation with Hebrew mint year 5782 (2022 in the Gregorian calendar) will feature updated inscriptions. This encompasses four coin denominations – the NIS 10, NIS 5, NIS ½, and 10 agorot.

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 News spoke to Dr Georges Chalhoub, Director, Cash Operations at Banque du Liban to find out more about recent events in the country and how, in the midst of these, the Bank continues to keep innovation alive.

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