currency management

A Call for Standards in Currency Processing

05.21.2012

Pretty well every conference has a topical subject or theme. The prevalent one at ICCOS Americas in Miami in March was industry standards or, to phrase it better, the lack of them (and the corollary, the need for them!). The theme featured most strongly in Roland Costa’s paper ‘A Journey into the Next Generation – The Fed’s Perspective’ but was prevalent throughout the conference. And rightly so.

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ICCOS Asia 2011 – Will You Be There?

10.30.2011

In an appropriate sequel position to my last post on conferences in the east versus west, comes the annual International Commercial Cash Operations Seminar (ICCOS) in Hong Kong, from November 13th through the 15th. Although there has ever been only one previous ICCOS in Asia, the experience and credibility of the organizers attracts a wide variety of central bank and commercial bank attendees, together with a good representation from associated equipment and software suppliers as well as partner organizations such as CIT’s and process outsource operations.

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The Note/Coin Boundary

04.26.2011

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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Cash Circulation Case Study

01.25.2011

Since last year, Currency News has been running a series on cash circulation models around the world, and has so far looked at three countries: Norway, Israel and China. In Israel and Norway, the central bank has removed itself – either partially or entirely – from the cash circulation process (Norway has even outsourced the destruction of banknotes). In China, on the other hand, the central bank continues to maintain direct control over cash circulation, up until the cash reaches the commercial banks. The focus now turns to South Africa, an early adopter of global cash management technology which has one of the most forward-thinking cash industries in the world.

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The Cost of Currency

08.11.2010

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

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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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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