Currency
E-krona adviser on offline trials, legislative changes and rollouts of CBDCs
Sveriges Riksbank’s Johan Schmalholz speaks about latest CBDC developments on sidelines of Central Banking’s Windsor training series
Portraits on banknotes: a study of the gender gap
Only Australia’s currency has gender parity; overall, less than 10% of portraited banknotes – excluding Elizabeth II – feature female images
Smaller banknote denominations have shorter lifespan
High income central banks produce longer-lasting cash
BCRA show sounds death knell for notes, hails birth of crypto
Governor opens show on AI and decentralised monetary and financial systems
Middle income central banks see largest volume of counterfeit notes
Foil remains least used security feature for banknote production
Majority of central banks have emergency cash inventory
But few respondents say they have alternative strategies in place
Half of central banks recycle banknotes as sustainability measure
Most currency operations lack climate strategy, but a few plan to launch one
SNB to launch new banknote series
Bank to “pay homage to the country’s unique topography” on new bills
Minority of central banks keep whole cash cycle in-house
Banknote printing remains central banks’ most outsourced function
Currency staff make up 8% of central bank workforce
Institutions with own printworks have larger currency departments
Raised tactile features are most common banknote visual aid
Assistive mobile application offered by just two central banks
Polymer substrates used on one-fifth of banknotes
Data reveals widening adoption in upper-middle income jurisdictions
ECB could go below r* when setting policy, says Panetta
Bank of Italy governor says eurozone has to return to “normal way of doing monetary policy”
Average volume of defective banknotes remains above 100m units
Central banks retrieved over $1 billion of mutilated banknotes on average
Cash payments average over 30% of transactions in 2023
No pressures on number of printed banknotes, central banks say
Half of upper-middle income banks plan banknote issue in next year
Total number of banknote denominations in circulation averages under 10
Average cash values rise more than volumes year on year
Value of banknote pieces in circulation rises by over 30% on average
ECB ‘did not approve’ production of €8,000 note
Central bank denies claims by issuing company that souvenir bill was created with its consent
Demand for cash: a global update
Antti Heinonen explores recent data on banknote demand and analyses its impact on cash infrastructure
Estonia’s head of cash on sunsetting low-value coins
Bank of Estonia’s Rait Roosve speaks with Levente Koroes about the country’s decision to stop minting one- and two-euro cent coins and its impact on access to cash