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East African Community – Single Currency

07.27.2010
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On 30 June, at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala, five ambassadors stood before a map of East Africa, on which ribbons had been placed around the borders of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Each ambassador then proceeded to cut the ribbon at the border post of his country, in a symbolic gesture that marked the opening of a common market within the East African Community (EAC).

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Valuable Change for US Notes

07.13.2010
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The Federal Register has published for public comment changes to United States Federal Reserve Notes to make them accessible to the blind and the visually impaired, knowing that the alterations will financially affect some ATM owners and operators.

“The purpose of this Federal Register notice is to inform the public of the features the Bureau of Engraving and Printing intends to propose to the Secretary of the Treasury to accommodate people who are blind and visually impaired and to solicit public comment on the proposed accommodation,” the Federal Register wrote in the proposal titled, “Meaningful Access To United States Currency for Blind and Visually Impaired Persons.”

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Counterfeit Deterrence – Beating the Criminal Element

07.06.2010
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Call it human nature, but ever since the invention of paper money, people have tried to imitate and counterfeit it. The result has been an unending race between issuing authorities and perpetrators. This article, which is based on my contributions to the Banknote 2009 and 2010 Currency conferences, is a review of how authorities have historically tried to deter counterfeiting and how they have responded to new threats. From this perspective, I will then explain the role of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group (CBCDG) and its activities, concluding with a short assessment of recent developments in counterfeit production techniques and how to address future threats.

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US Government to Audit the FRB

05.12.2010
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It was announced yesterday afternoon that the US Senate approved (96-0) a one-time audit of the Federal Reserve System. Specifically the audit will investigate the Federal Reserve’s economic crisis response programs. We suspect that this will also likely include a review of cash reserves and inventory distributions.

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Is The UK About To Dethrone Cash As King?

05.04.2010
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It is well known that the UK is a nation of early adopters and as such has been watched by many a pundit for signs of paradigm shifts. The institution of cash as a preferred payment medium is one of those unassailable paradigms. Or is it? It was recently reported by the UK Payments Council that for the first time it is predicted that cash will make up less than 50% of payments, perhaps as soon as 2015.

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Nationwide prohibits small in-branch cash withdrawals – Expected gripes ensue

04.29.2010
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A couple of weeks ago Nationwide Building Society in the UK announced that it would prohibit cash withdrawals of less than £100 in the teller queue at the branch. This ban affected only holders of accounts that included an ATM or debit card, point being that these are customers that could just as easily get their cash from the ATM as in the branch.

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Death By A Thousand Cuts

04.26.2010
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The recent report by the Payments Council – the body responsible for setting the strategy for payments in the UK – should be a wake-up call to us all in the currency industry. Although the report covers the UK only, it is a trend that is typical of payment systems in many countries around the world. In summary, it documents a decline in the use of cash in the last decade and forecasts a further decline, detailing changes that have been taking place gradually, but steadily. Is this a case of ‘death by a thousand cuts?’ And, if so, is there anything we can do about it?

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New US $100 Note

04.22.2010
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Yesterday it was announced in a joint press release that a new $100 US note will enter circulation next February (2011). In a bold move the BEP and FRB have decided to add some new security features to the most often counterfeited US denomination. This will be the first time that OVD’s (Optical Variable Device) will be used on any US note. Could this be the beginning of an even larger change in US currency design?

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ICCOS 2010

04.08.2010
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As many of you are aware, I am an enthusiastic supporter of the International Commercial Cash Operations Seminar. I have attended every event except one over the past 12 years and have yet to be disappointed, which is more than I can say for almost every other industry conference I have been to. This years event promises to provide again the kind of focused and valuable content that we have come to expect from ICCOS, with even more focus on the North, Central and South American markets.

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The Feel of Money

03.29.2010
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It is said that the only constant in life is change – no, not the coin in your pocket variety but the sort that challenges us to continuously adapt.First came the news that Canada will be changing their currency to a polymer based substrate. Next, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) is now suggesting new changes for the US green-back, which actually isn’t so green anymore.

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Multichannel integration and currency management – Are they close cousins?

03.09.2010

I’m currently working on a body of research about multichannel integration and to be honest, I wasn’t initially thinking about the currency management implications. At the same time that I’ve been working on multichannel research, we’ve been talking a lot about the TowerGroup Top 10 which lays out the top business drivers, strategic responses and technology initiatives that banks are focusing on in 2010. Finally one day the light bulb came on and I started thinking about where currency management fits within both multichannel integration and increasing self-service adoption.

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It Just Feels Funny

03.05.2010
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Having been involved in the currency handling business for many years and having experience in many countries means that I have had the opportunity to handle many different kinds of “paper” money. I placed the word paper in parentheses for a reason, because in today’s world not all currency is made of paper. Australia started the trend away from paper/cotton based currency a few years ago. They were followed by Mexico and a handful of other countries. Now Canada is joining the ranks.

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The Cost of Cash

02.24.2010
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Recently an associate sent me an article regarding the relative “cost” of different retail payment media – credit cards, debit cards and cash. While the article (reprinted below) makes a convincing argument for cash discounts, it neglects to understand or incorporate the real cost of cash in society. I am sure those of you reading this post will agree with me that there are hidden costs of cash that most of society never sees or thinks about. So, what is the cost of cash?

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De La Rue Teams with Cummins Allison

02.11.2010

Cummins-Allison, Mt. Prospect, Illinois, USA and De La Rue, Basingstoke, UK, today announced a strategic partnership to sell De La Rue high speed currency sorters and Enterprise Cash Management software solutions in the North American region through Cummins-Allison’s extensive nationwide distribution and service network.

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Burroughs is Back!

02.09.2010
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PLYMOUTH, Mich. – Marlin Equity Partners (“Marlin”) is pleased to announce that it has acquired the check and cash automation equipment and related U.S. maintenance, printer and direct supply business of Unisys Corporation (NYSE: UIS) and has subsequently formed a new company, Burroughs Payment Systems, Inc.

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Currency Supply Chain Optimization and Yield Management

01.26.2010
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To tie the concepts of optimization and yield together as it refers to currency we need to understand the need for money. Without some form of money we would have no way to trade. Without trade we would have no commerce and without commerce we would have no way to better our station in life. Betterment of our situation is as fundamental to the human condition as breathing – we all want to succeed and make a better life for our communities (communities of family, friends, neighbours, countrymen, etc.). Therefore the faster we can make money move the more opportunity we have to profit from that movement.

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Parting Thought on the FDIC Study….and 2009

12.21.2009

So you’ve heard me rail on about the unbanked and underbanked for the last couple of weeks and I’m not quite ready to let it go. In addition to outlining the results of the FDIC study, I’d also like to give one final thought on what we as banks do about it.

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The Underbanked – Are we making cross-selling efforts or are they just not working?

12.14.2009
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The FDIC study – take two. In my last post, I focused on the unbanked and some misconceptions about that group. Today I’d like to focus on the underbanked — those households that have a deposit account but rely on non-bank financial services. These are households that are already bank customers but are also using alternative financial services (AFS). The FDIC study provides great insight into what those AFS products are – good information for a bank that’s looking to improve cross-sales to existing clients.

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The FDIC’s New Study on the Un- and Under-banked – Will It Help or Hurt?

12.09.2009
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Last Wednesday, the FDIC released the results of the National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked Households. The survey found that over 1 in 4 US households are unbanked or underbanked. There have always been outreach efforts by some banks to bring the unbanked into the fold. But as I’ve included unbanked information in my presentations on self-service, I’ve had some comments that these groups are not “good” bank clients so banks don’t see any need to reach out.

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Cash is Back – At Least This Year

12.04.2009

The New York Times recently published an article indicating that the percentage of people planning to use cash for holiday shopping in 2009 is up 9.2% over 2008 and this isn’t the first time we’ve heard that cash has made a comeback in 2009. But will it last? Is this a permanent philosophical and practical change? Or is cash actually experiencing death throes as debit cards, prepaid cards and contactless payments continue their steady rise?

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Overdraft Fees or ATM Fees – which would you prefer?

11.30.2009
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Following from Nicole’s post about the choices US banks are facing in their replacement of overdraft fees comes news from UK banks regarding their choice pending final court rulings on overdraft fees there. With traditional straight back and stiff upper lip, the UK banking industry is prepared to answer the demise of overdraft fees with a reinstatement of ATM fees. Said one UK banking spokesperson, “We are an industry, not a charity. People have to remember that it does not cost nothing.”.

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New Overdraft Regs Are Coming — So What Do We Do About It?

11.23.2009
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Brendan gave a great outline of the new overdraft fee regulations coming into effect in the US in 2010. Given, these are the new Fed rules and we haven’t yet heard what the damage will be from legislation pending in Congress, but at least we have something to work toward now. But what does that mean? In my estimation, banks have four options for how to address the new legislation.

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Overdraft Reform – who wins and who loses?

11.18.2009
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The news hit the wire late last week and now it is official. For those of you who don’t live in the US, a little background before we start. There has been great discussion and debate at the Federal Reserve Bank about changing some of the service fee allowances that financial institutions are allowed to levy their customers. Like other countries (Australia for one, regarding ATM interchange fees) the United States banking regulators have seen the need to start regulating how customers are charged for some of their banking services.

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The ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum – Will the More Focused Conferences Remain a Trend?

11.16.2009

I’m a little off my blog game as I flit from conference to conference this autumn but I’m picking up lots of great information along the way. I started out a couple of weeks ago at the ATM, Debit & Prepaid Forum in Las Vegas which was very well attended. This was my first one and I have to say that it was nice to be among a group of people speaking the same language. While there, I hosted a workshop on successful deployment of self-service. I thought I would share with you a couple of key points that came out of that session.

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The Cashless Branch (continued) – Is it possible to be cashless and still make customers happy?

10.07.2009
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So how can a bank transform itself to a cashless branch without scaring away the customers that still want and need to come to the branch? Any hardware manufacturer will be happy to tell you how as it relates to the layout and functionality. But the key question is how to do it in such a way that the branch is more profitable and the customers are not alienated.

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if the recession is over can we go back to normal?

10.01.2009

I have heard and seen editorials in the past few weeks warning of the complacency that comes with narrowly escaping an economic depression. These same editorialists are asking the same questions – mostly of our leaders – why are they not warning us of not heeding the lessons we apparently just learned. If this recession was so quick to fix (I said quick, not inexpensive), then why can’t we just continue with our cavalier ways. If it happens again the governments and central banks will just bail us out again, right?

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The Cashless Branch – Scaring the Customers or Just the Next Step?

09.29.2009

If you haven’t considered the cashless branch before, you may be asking “Why?”, quickly followed by “How?” I could do entire presentations and research notes on this topic, so I’m probably not going to do these questions justice here. But let me just hit on some highlights on the “Why” today and the “How” in my next post.

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the recession is over, now get back to work!

09.16.2009

I guess it must be official, if Ben said it. Today at 10:56:40AM Eastern Time MarketWatch started spreading the news, “Fed Chief Bernanke: The Recession is Likely Over”. Watch your words here folks, the vocabulary is littered with exception traps! Here’s another classic, directly quoted from the closing lines of their newsflash, “Bernanke noted that many economists now expect the labor market to recover slowly. But he said this was only a forecast and might be wrong”.

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is cash becoming king again?

09.09.2009

Has the consumer learned their credit-aversion lesson yet? Ask this question of any cash manager at a bank – whether in retail (Branch and ATM) or in vaults and their answer is likely to be in the affirmative. I have not heard from any of my cash management network that the demand for cash has started to fall off in recent months. In fact anecdotal evidence would seem to support the idea that we are all using our cash – and only cash – as a simple yet effective way to control our spending and consequently bolster our meager savings.

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Counting On Currency welcomes a new contributor

09.02.2009

The height of confirmation that one is doing something of meaning for a community (to me at least) is when others want to voluntarily join in to help make it even better. This small contribution to the voice of the currency community has been so confirmed – a second time! First it needs to be [...]

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