Editorial

That Was the Year That Was

01.19.2012
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In our natural world, 2011 brought huge earthquakes in Argentina, China, Japan and New Zealand. Devastating floods occurred in Australia and South East Asia, and a savage tsunami struck Japan, leaving coastlines obliterated and nuclear calamity at Fukushima. Civil war has occurred throughout the Middle East and North Africa, where regime changes have caused civil unrest. The global economy has been turbulent and even now, the eurozone one is facing massive challenges and survival of the common currency is being openly questioned.

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The Voice of Cash

11.06.2011
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What do grey squirrels and cashless payments have in common? Admittedly, the link isn’t obvious. The grey squirrel, classified as vermin in Northern Europe because it is decimating the population of the native, cute and fluffy red squirrel, is referred to by many as ‘a tree rat with good PR’. The connection is the power of PR (public relations) to generate a message that favours your subject, be it a grey squirrel or the cashless industry.

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The Bank Conference Buzz: west vs. east

10.24.2011
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I must admit that I have been saving up a bit some enthusiasm for this Post! Mostly I wanted to have two similar yet different conference experiences behind me. It was my good fortune to attend both the recent 2011 BAI Retail Delivery Show in Chicago and also the 2011 CIFTEE Exhibition in Beijing …. Having attended one major event this year in each region – east and west, one has a natural inclination to compare them. Banking related conferees, shows and seminars.in general, in north america and to a lesser extent in europe, are ….

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Currency News – Investing in the Future

09.25.2011
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We gave some reasons to be cheerful in our comment in the July issue, and given the current daily predictions of financial collapse and economic gloom accompanied by highly volatile financial markets, we thought it is useful to see if the currency industry still does have good reason to smile! (And if you are wondering about the headline – we have stolen it from Ian Drury and the Blockheads, a pop group in the 1970s and a favourite of the editor).

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What If… No US World Currency and No Euro?

08.30.2011
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What If…..Europe without the Euro, and the US Dollar No Longer the Reserve Currency? The current economic crisis is putting further stress on the euro, to the extent that its survival as the common currency of the 17 member states of the eurozone is now being openly questioned.

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A Rising Star in Cash Processing

08.11.2011
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Over the years, I have found it interesting and informative to follow the adventures of new companies as they start to make a name for themselves. About a year ago I was introduced to a company out of China called GRG Banking. Although they are not “new” in the true sense of the word, they are new to those of us whose focus is mainly in the west. Although they were first established in 1999, it wasn’t until 2010 that they came on the western radar as a serious contender in the international cash processing market.

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Banknote 2011 Conference – A Synopsis

08.02.2011
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If one conference could act as a barometer as to the state of the industry, then Banknote 2011 would indicate that the mercury is rising. There has been plenty of news in the past two years or so to indicate otherwise. Coinciding with, although not a direct consequence of, the economic meltdown of 2008, a number of events have conspired to cast a pall over the industry.

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Virtual Currency – The Dark Side

07.28.2011
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Regular readers of Counting On Currency will know that I am committed to the future of hard currency. This does not mean however, that I am not interested in virtual currency. One particular form of virtual currency that has my attention is BitCoin.

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Nigerian Cash Management Reform

06.06.2011
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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a new policy, a reform of the Nigerian payments system to encourage the use of electronic payments. The policy becomes effective on June 1, 2012. The policy would impose penalties on consumer & corporate account holders at banks if they withdraw more than a specified cap amount, in cash, each day. The policy imposes penalties on commercial banks if they fail to rigorously follow CBN’s rules for consumer & corporate accounts.

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Is That Google In Your Wallet?

05.30.2011
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May 26th, 2011 marked the start of a new venture for Google. Actually, today;s announcement was about the merger of two new Google ventures – Google Wallet and Google Offers. The search engine giant is now poised to become a major player in the mobile payments arena, with the added value of combining a mobile payments platform with easy and instant coupon redemption.

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Banknote Producers Facing Stormy Seas

05.25.2011
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The commercial banknote industry is facing a dual challenge; one of its own making, and one caused by world events. We have dwelt on both challenges, separately, in previous issue of Currency News. In this article, we draw them together to present a rounded picture of the circumstances that, in combination, are aggravating an already-difficult market.

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The Note/Coin Boundary

04.26.2011
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In currency management, the note/coin boundary and the calculation of where this should fall is critical to public acceptance and usage of banknotes and coins, to optimising inventory management, to minimising the costs of production and circulation and, as a result, to minimising the lifetime cost of ownership and maximising the income from notes and coins (ie seigniorage) for issuers.

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Could Virtual Currency Become King in Developing Countries?

04.11.2011
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Hot on the heals of my post about a virtual currency called BitCoin, I have uncovered another rather surprising new paradigm. It would seem that increasingly people in 3rd world countries – what I prefer to call developing countries – are making a living by performing “micro-tasks” in the virtual economy.

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Rare Currency?

04.04.2011
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Who knew that Antarctica actually has it’s own currency. I have never seen or heard of this before. Now I am on the hunt for my own notes from the very frozen, southernmost continent. I can only wonder how many places there are to spend it?

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The BitCoin Project

03.30.2011
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Every once in a while a new idea comes along that simply stops me in my tracks and makes me think. I enjoy these moment because they are few, far between and almost always leave me enriched in some way – simply by gaining knowledge of a new concept or idea, having a misconception corrected or, in the rarest of examples, having a total philosophical epiphany. I can’t say that the BitCoin Project qualifies as an epiphany, but it comes close.

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Competition or Cooperation in the Cash Industry?

02.28.2011
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As the technology used in the manufacture and handling of banknotes has advanced, so has the cost of product and feature development, IP protection and production. Add to these cost pressures, smarter buying by central banks, an increasingly-competitive market with over capacity of paper supply and more state sector banknote printers attempting to participate in the commercial market, and something has to change.

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Foiling the Counterfeiter

01.18.2011
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We all know how currency printers, security device suppliers and counterfeiters are constantly trying to outsmart each other. A recent paper published in the periodical Advanced Materials. It seems that science has advanced to the extent that it is now possible to print a transistor circuit onto paper using organic compounds. The science of this is far beyond my comprehension, but I do understand the basic principle.

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The Less-Cash Society

01.13.2011
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One of the most common debates I hear is about the use of cash. Is it growing or declining? There was a recent report from the UK that indicated cash use was surpassed by other forms of payment for the first time ever. I was recently sent a link to a report from the Aite Group that predicts a decline in cash usage over the next four years. Interestingly however the report does conclude that although there will likely be a decline in cash usage in certain demographic groups, there will be an increase with others.

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Happy Holidays To All!

12.20.2010

As is my custom, I celebrate the tradition of Christmas, with all of it’s meaning as well as commercialism. Sometimes the meaning of the season gets lost in the roar of the corporate engine and so we should find small escapes to reflect and remember what the season is all about. But then the chime for a Skype call goes off, or the ping of new email arriving – the digital age has struck again!

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Industry in Crisis?

11.14.2010
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The further developments in both the Securency and De La Rue investigations, plus the postponement of the new series US $100 bill on top of other recent banknote delays, bring the currency industry into sharp focus and worst of all, into the public arena.

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Counterfeits: the Importance of Knowing Your Money

10.07.2010
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Central banks differ in their approach to the withdrawal of banknotes with old designs once new versions are issued. A period of co-circulation is inevitable, after which banks have a choice between allowing co-circulation of old and new or rapidly withdrawing the old notes (which it may decide to do when redenomination is involved or to replace a series that has been subject to large-scale theft or counterfeiting). But whereas some issuing authorities offer a period of a few months to a year before the old versions cease to be legal tender, many others allow the two versions to co-circulate indefinitely – with old notes only withdrawn when they are unfit.

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The Cost of Currency

08.11.2010
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In recent weeks there have been a number of articles related to the cost of creating and maintaining cash in society. On the one hand it should be fairly obvious that each note and coin in circulation has an inherent cost of manufacture. What is less clear is the ongoing cost of circulating authentic and fit notes and coins. First, let’s take a look at the obvious – what does it cost to make a note or a coin. The answer may not be as simple as the question.

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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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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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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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Is Cash Becoming Obsolete?

01.20.2010
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I have always been a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the prevalence of cash as the favoured payment medium for most common “everyday” transactions. It is simple, inexpensive and anonymous. For these reasons and others I have always maintained that cash will remain king at least through my lifetime. However, the presenter of this speech Mr. Douglas Rushkoff makes some very interesting observations about the origins of cash…

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Mobile Transfers – Will They Live Up to the Hype?

01.15.2010
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On January 6, American Banker published an article entitled Mobile Transfers Taking Aim at Cash Payments. I suppose that one could start a “cash threat” list by adding mobile P2P transfers to contactless payments. P2P transfers are an extremely useful tool and are already in place in much of the world – and not just via PayPal. There are two primary issues to be worked out. The first is determining which accounts to use to move money. The second issue is pricing. There has been a lot of talk about the tolerance of consumers to pay for P2P transfers. I believe that this is wishful thinking.

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