News in Brief

Eco Payment Cards from G+D

Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) has pledged to replace all virgin plastic in its payment card products with recycled industrial compostable or biodegradable products by 2030 at the latest.

According to the company, beyond its direct positive impact through sustainable material choices, a payment card without virgin plastic is also a social statement and thus a powerful symbol of change. Being the first, G+D believes the whole payment card industry will follow its example, which will completely eliminate virgin plastic from more than 3 billion payment cards being produced annually worldwide.

Today, G+D is already supporting banks and their customers with an eco-focused card product line, where the relevant card body layers are made of 100% sustainable materials, alongside eco-optimised card issuance and a growing open network of eco-innovative partners.

Moving forward, it says it will continue to explore innovative and sustainable materials, as well as further develop customised end-of-life card programs for its clients. All of these activities are part of G+D’s ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) strategy, which aims to make the company’s entire offering greener and more sustainable.

GardaWorld Adds ARCA to Sesami

Montreal-based Garda World Security Corporation (GardaWorld), the largest privately-owned security and cash services company in the world, has announced the acquisition of ARCA, a leading manufacturer of cash automation technology, and in particular teller cash recyclers, for financial institutions.

ARCA was established in 1998 and is headquartered in Mebane, North Carolina, with operations in more than 25 countries and 320 employees. In 2014 it acquired the CTS Group, an Italian provider of cash and card automation technologies, and also a specialist in coin and note recyclers.

ARCA’s employees will join Sesami, the cash ecosystem integrator and fintech company that was spun out of GardaWorld in February following the acquisition of Tidel and Gunnebo, and which operates as an independent entity.

Whilst the purchase price of ARCA hasn’t been disclosed, GardaWorld has already spent $1.3 billion on acquisitions this year, of which ARCA is the tenth.

US Survey Votes for End to Penny

A new survey in the US has revealed that 58% of voters agree that the government should stop producing new penny (1 cent) coins. The view was taken after those surveyed by Data for Progress were told the cost of producing the coin – which, at 2.1 cents, is now more than twice as much as its face value.

The results were reversed when respondents were asked about the nickel (5 cent) coin. Although this costs 8 cents to produce, 59% were against it being scrapped.

Separately, the US Mint has reported its production figures for circulating coins for July, which showed a slowdown for the fourth month in a row. Even so, over 1.1 billion coins were minted. Of this, 39.4% were of the penny. This was lower than usual – in a typical month, pennies account for 50-55% of all coins produced.

For the first seven months of 2022, the US Mint produced 8.73 billion coins, down by 1.7% on the first seven months of 2021. However, if the current production pace stretched through to December, the annual mintage for 2022 would be near 15 billion coins, compared with the 14.5 billion coins produced in 2021.

Spectra Scores Successes with BDS and Fusion

Spectra Systems has announced that it has received an order for a banknote disinfection system (BDS) to be installed at an un-named central bank in Asia

The BDS is based on Spectra’s patented technology, which utilises an oxygen-free environment and heat to eliminate a broad spectrum of pathogens from mould to SARS-2 on both paper and polymer banknotes. The units are capable of disinfecting from 4-6 million banknotes in 1-2 hours, even when strapped or in sealed bags, and range in price from $150,000 to $800,000.

According to CEO Nabil Lawandy, ‘whilst this first sale is not expected to materially impact our performance this year, we are optimistic that it will open the door to additional sales as central banks are seeing higher demands for cash with rising inflation, while processing staff continue to struggle with pathogens ranging from common E coli to SARS-2 and now monkeypox.’ The company has also announced that a new central bank customer has given it more development work prior to delivery on a contract for sensor testing of banknotes. As a result, approximately $4 million of additional revenue has been contracted in the period to 31 December 2024.

A significant portion of the profits from this unexpected contract amendment will be used towards additional sales and marketing efforts for its machine-readable secure polymer substrate, Fusion™, said the company in a statement.

Fusion, which was launched earlier this year at the Banknote & Currency Conference, is a combined development with Toray Plastics and Cartor Security Print, with Spectra producing the covert taggants, Toray the BOPP film and Cartor the opacification.

No Decision on HQ for EAC Central Bank

Partner states have failed to agree on which country should host the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI), one of the key establishments in implementing a single currency for the region.

The East African Community (EAC) partners submitted their pitches to host the institute, which will in due course become the regional central bank.

A verification exercise commissioned to determine the country best positioned to host the institution ranked Tanzania the most suitable with a score of 86.3%, followed by Uganda (82.42%) and Burundi (78.1%). Kenya was the least qualified with 77.35%. The other EAC partners – Rwanda, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo – did not express interest.

At the 42nd EAC Council of Ministers meeting in July, both Kenya and Uganda rejected the verdict of the exercise, questioning its objectivity. The Council agreed to further consultations on the matter and is expected to make a decision during the 43rd meeting.

The Protocol for the establishment of the East African Monetary Union (EAMU) was signed by the heads of state in Kampala, Uganda in 2013, setting up a 10-year roadmap for attaining a single currency in 2024. But it is way behind schedule in setting up relevant institutions to support a single currency, the most important being the EAMI, which was supposed to be up and running in 2015.