News in Brief

Central Bank Reunites

The Central Bank of Libya (CBL) has been reinstated as a unified sovereign institution, almost a decade after it was split in two because of the civil war.

The CBL has been divided into western and eastern branches since 2014, after a parallel administration emerged in the east when the country fractured following a civil war. The recognised central bank is in Tripoli, and the breakaway bank in Benghazi. Both have issued their own currency.

The CBL first signalled its intent to move toward reunification in January 2020 as part of a peace process after a ceasefire, and commissioned professional services firm Deloitte to help with the transition.

Cash Depot Launches Bank-in-a-Box

Cash Depot, one of the largest privately owned independent ATM providers and processors in the US, has announced the launch of Bank-in-a-Box, its new cash management, ATM, and consumer financial services system.

According to the company, the technology is designed to provide a versatile cash solution for progressive retailers and unbanked and underbanked consumers by combining smart safe, cash recycler, ATM, and financial services kiosk functionality in one machine.

The system’s functionality for retailers includes start of shift register funds, split bills and pull change, unlimited deposits for intra-day and end-of-shift, and real time reporting.

For customers, it includes ATM functionality, multi-denominational transactions, and bank deposits for account holders of participating financial institutions.

According to Cash Depot, Bank-in-a-Box enables retailers to combat declining surcharge transactions with multi-denomination transactions, leverages Gen Z with ATM deposits and attracts local business with commercial deposits.

Furthermore, with over half of ATM users making a purchase in the store where they use the ATM, spending up to 20% more than non-ATM customers, the Bank-in-a-Box, which Cash Depot claims is up to 50% less expensive than other cash management systems, is expected to generate more consumer traffic, particularly if add-on applications are available such as money transfers, cryptocurrency, and wallet/card/mobile.

Banque de France Validates New Printworks

Construction by the Banque de France (BdF) of a new banknote printworks factory in Vic-le-Comte on the same site as the Europafi paper mill can move ahead, following the settling of a dispute with the unions that has gone on since last December and the validation of the project by the BdF’s General Council. The new printworks will replace the existing site in Chamalières, which has been in operation since 1917 (see CN July 2022).

The BdF had warned the unions in June that the project would be abandoned ‘unless a clear agreement was reached by mid-July’. This agreement has now been reached. The proposed reduction of staff will be accompanied by a guarantee that the working conditions and health of the printers won’t suffer as a result.

Successive delays to the project have already resulted in costs rising to over €250 million, compared to the estimate of €200 million at the end of 2016 when plans were first drawn up, because of inflation in raw materials and construction.

‘We are giving ourselves the next two months to prepare for the implementation phase of the project’ before the ‘start of the construction of the factory’, said Erick Lacourrège, BdF’s Managing Director of Cash and Payments.

Once complete, the new printworks will – says BdF – be the most modern, efficient and environmentally sustainable public banknote production centre in Europe.

BRCA Opens New Cash Centre

The Central Bank of the Republic of Argentina (BRCA) has inaugurated its new Logistics and Cash Management Centre, in La Banda, for the north and centre of the country, in a special ceremony attended by BRCA Governor, Miguel Ángel Pesce, together with the Chief of Staff of Santiago del Estero, Elías Suárez, and the Minister of Economy, Atilio Chara, representing Governor Gerardo Zamora.

The 1,300 sqm facility will serve as a strategic point to provide services to the provinces of both regions.

After a symbolic ribbon-cutting ceremony, a loan agreement was signed between the government of Santiago del Estero and BRCA for coordination and joint work in the centre, which employs 24 people.

The new plant is design to fulfil the BCRA’s objectives of improving operations and reducing the use of cash through the promotion of measures and programmes such as Transferencias 3.0, BRCA’s new payment system with interoperable QR codes.

Diebold Emerges from Chapter 11

Diebold Nixdorf, the second largest manufacturer of self-service financial terminals after NCR, has emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, having restructured to settle $2.1 billion of debt, and is once again trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

According to Octavio Marquez, Diebold Nixdorf’s Chairman and CEO, ‘this is a pivotal moment for Diebold Nixdorf and begins a new chapter as we have successfully completed our debt restructuring and emerge as a financially stronger company. Now, we are well-positioned to drive solid performance with an optimised balance sheet, more liquidity and less debt – creating the foundation needed for long-term success.’ 

The company also reported sales of $922.2 million for the second quarter of 2023, representing an 8.3% increase on the same quarter of 2022, and a gross profit $225.2 million, a 40% increase.

New Automated Vault for BOK

The Bank of Korea (BOK) has announced the introduction of an automated vault system that integrates advanced logistics automation with a computerised framework.

The system involves automated inspection, loading via a palletising robot, and movement and storage facilitated by conveyors and automated guided vehicles (AGVs).

Upon arrival of banknotes at the BOK from commercial banks or the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp, the inspection system captures photos and measures the denomination, size and weight of the currency. The loaded currency is conveyed to the vault via a dedicated conveyor belt and then positioned on a designated shelf using an internal conveying machine within the vault.

According to the BOK, the system has significantly increased the automation rate of note issuing operations from approximately 40% to 70-80%, while raising the loading capacity by around 30%.

As of the end of 2022, around 7.3 billion won banknotes were in circulation, worth 1.7 trillion won.