Time for Confidence in Cash

The Banknote Conference took place 13-16 May in Fort Worth, Texas. Organised by Currency Research, it was attended by nearly 425 delegates from 72 countries and 183 organisations. Of those, 92 were central banks and/or printworks.

The conference was opened by the Treasurer of the US, Chief Lynn Malerba. Her speech laid out a number of themes that recurred throughout the event – investing in cash for the future, the importance of resilience and the need for environmental sustainability. Kathleen Young, from the Federal Reserve, picked up on these themes, explaining that in the US cash transaction demand is stable and total cash in circulation continues to rise.

Investment in cash and the cash cycle

Against this background the Fed is investing in new processing centres in Miami and New York. It has a major project renewing its sorting machines and sensors and it is investing in automation and in its data and digitisation in the cash cycle. It has engaged a third party consultancy to review coin operations and it continues research into all areas of banknotes and is working on new currency design. It is increasing its inventory held based on lessons learned over the pandemic.