Banknote lifetime values need to be treated with care because it is easy to form misleading conclusions. The biggest challenge is ensuring that a fair comparison is being made and that comparisons are made on representative data. The before and after scenarios should be like-for-like.

Jean-Claude Brou, President of the Economic Community of West African States, has said that the community has agreed to delay the launch of the ECO to 2027.

WaveFront Technology – a California-based supplier of nano and micro-structured tools, coatings and films for the security, lighting, aerospace, and display markets – used the Banknote & Currency Conference in February as an opportunity to debut its new new portfolio of security features for currency and other security applications.

27 June is World ATM Day. On this day 55 years ago, the world’s first 24/7 cash machine, or Automated Teller Machine as it was later to become known, was unveiled in London.

SICPA’s IMMERSION event this year, which took place via a series of one-day workshops spanning April and May, focused on the future and features, with innovation as the constant theme throughout.

India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has launched a special series of coins to mark the country’s 75th anniversary of independence, at a special ceremony organised by the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Currency Affairs.

Ulster Bank, one of Northern Ireland’s three note issuing bank, has now released its new £50, the design of which focuses on the province’s industries and the achievements of women in Northern Ireland.

Komori Corporation has published its financial figures for 2021/22, reporting a return to profit and an increase of 22% in consolidated net sales compared to the previous year.

Benjamin Diokno, Governor of the Bankgo Sentral ng Pilipinas, will join the incoming government as Finance Minister. His replacement will be Felipe Medalla.

De La Rue’s sales fell marginally in 2021/22 – revenue (non IFRS) of £375 million and operating profit of £36.4 million were down 3.3% and 4.5% respectively on the previous year.

The inaugural Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum, which will take place 15-16 November in Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh, will share best practice, promote cooperation and address specific environmental challenges and solutions in the cash and payments arena.

The construction of the Banco de España’s new printworks for IMBISA just outside Madrid – the first new state-owned printing plant in the EU in over 50 years – has now been completed, and work has started on moving in the new equipment.

The history of French banknote and security printer Oberthur Fiduciaire dates back 175 years, being founded by Francois-Charles Oberthur in 1842.

Koenig and Bauer Banknote Solutions has just completed a series of showcase events for customers called ‘Open House’. Structured as a morning of presentations followed by equipment demonstrations, the day was focused on the practical, the tangible and improving those elements of business that are within the control of K&B BNS.

In his review of the Global Currency Forum, Wolfram Seidemann, Chairman of the ICA, compared the priorities of the cash industry in the past with today. Then, he said, the key priorities were security, efficiency and quality of notes is circulation. Fast forward several years, and the priorities look very different now.

The official launch ceremony for a new security document printing facility has taken place in Entebbe in Uganda. It will be owned and operated by the Uganda Security Printing Company, which was set up in 2018 as a joint venture between the state-owned Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation and Veridos, the German provider of integrated identity solutions.

2021 was a great year for the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM), despite the ongoing effects of the pandemic, with record sales, profits, and a healthy $78.9 returned to the Canadian government, compared with $20 million the previous year.

It was a long-time coming, but following two years of delays and a last-minute change of venue, the inaugural Global Currency Forum finally went ahead in early May in Port Aventura in Spain.

The global independent think tank CashEssentials has announced the launch of the CashTech Innovation Awards, to recognise innovations that will facilitate access to and acceptance of cash.

Nominations will be open on 8 June for the 16th round of the ‘Excellence in Currency: 2022 Coin Awards’, run by IACA (the International Association of Currency Affairs) and sponsored by Currency News.