Currency 2020
The long-term impact of Covid-19 on banknote demand
Cash usage assumptions challenged at a time when central banks make limited use of longer-term forecasts
Currency Benchmarks 2020 – presentation
Currency subject specialist Rachael King speaks about the future of cash and its sustainability
Currency Benchmarks 2020 report – the data behind the cash cycle
Perspectives on staffing, circulation, forecasting, fraud, substrate choice, outsourcing and climate risk
Big variation in shortest- and longest-lived banknotes
Average lifespans range from 0.6 years to 20 years, with number of denominations playing key role
Asia issues the most banknotes by volume and value
Asian central banks issue 62.3 banknotes worth $1,852 per person
Most central banks not measuring banknote carbon footprint
Very few institutions have cash climate strategy but over 50% are recycling their unfit banknotes
Africa’s sparse ATM infrastructure contrasts with Asian density
Central banks reported huge variation in number of ATMs
G+D and CPS are ‘most approved’ for banknote sorting
Just over half of survey sample endorses Munich-based manufacturer
Websites are top currency communication tool
More than two thirds of currency managers use social media
Printing is the most outsourced area of the cash cycle
Just over 60% of survey respondents contract out currency printing
Watermarks and intaglio printing remain top security features
Increasing the number of security features does not necessarily reduce counterfeiting
Currency managers eschew big data and long-term forecasts
Most popular banknote forecast period is one to three years
Only 25% of central banks operate own printworks
Larger central banks from high income countries are more likely to print notes in-house
Central banks show wide variation in cash department staffing
Different staffing levels driven in part by which institutions run their own printworks
Cash volumes rise in most jurisdictions
Annual growth in banknotes in circulation was 6.2%; or 5.2% on a weighted basis
‘Wear and tear’ the main reason for banknote exchange
Covid-19 raised fears of banknote contamination, but historical exchange is mostly due to worn notes
Counterfeits rise with issuance on multiple substrates
Average percentage of counterfeits per total volume in circulation is around 0.01%