The COVID-19 pandemic has had massive impact at a global scale. If mostly negative, it has also generated an incredible surge of solidarity. Governments, associations and individuals have all in their own way launched initiatives to help those most in need. Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions along with the banknote industry have played their part too.

The reputation of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Craigieburn site in Melbourne as the world’s most unique banknote precinct has been strengthened with the arrival of SICPA Australia, which is basing its headquarters there. Note Printing Australia (also located on the site) has a long-term supply agreement with SICPA, and the RBA is committed to the use of SICPA proprietary features such as SPARK Live™ on its banknotes for the foreseeable future.

As relayed to Currency News in this month’s On the Record, the Chairman of China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPM), Mr Yang Lijie, is optimistic about the future of cash, proud of the achievements of his organisation in terms of quality, sustainability and CSR, and willing to make more friends and more partners with the industry around the world.

2021 started with the CEO of Koenig & Bauer, Claus Bolza-Schünemann, handing over the baton to Dr Andreas Plesske, board member responsible for Koenig & Bauer’s Special segment, which includes Banknote Solutions.

The Central Bank of Iran has unveiled the designs of three new banknotes as part of the transition of Iran’s currency from the rial to the toman. Under the changes, four zeroes will be knocked off the rial and it will be renamed.

Banknote Industry News (BIN) surveyed 36 central banks at the end of 2020 with a wide range of questions. Two thirds of those surveyed did not change their banknote handling practices in the pandemic, neither disinfecting nor quarantining notes. The 25% who have changed their practices, continue with them. Although a quarter said that trust and confidence in banknotes had been reduced by the pandemic, 69% said there was no change.

A new special report, ‘Security Threads for Banknotes’, is about to be released. Published by Currency Publications, it follows the successful and informative Special Report ‘Diffractive Features on Banknotes’. Published in a similar format, the 130-page report is available in both printed and digital form.

In the last quarter of last year, the UK bank NatWest established three cross industry working groups to improve the environmental performance of the UK’s cash cycle. Involving 36 organisations, the working groups looked at energy, plastics and CO2 to establish best practice and to drive change.

Cash & Payment News™ is a unique source of information on cash and how it can be optimised in circulation from the perspective of the public, banks and retailers, central bank cash departments, consumer payments providers and the industries that supply these.

It is the only news source dedicated specifically to circulating coins, the minting industry and the numismatic community.