IACA Excellence in Currency Awards 2025 – the Winners Are...

The Currency Conference gala dinner on 28 May hosted the presentation of the latest International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) 2025 Technical Excellence in Currency Awards.

There were four categories, with three finalists in each.

Best New Banknote or Banknote Series

The finalists were:

• Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) – for the First Philippines Polymer Banknote Series
• National Bank of Kazakhstan & The Banknote Factory – for the Saka Style banknote series
• Bank of Jamaica – for the new all-polymer banknote series.

The winner was the BSP for its new polymer series, and specifically the new 50, 100, and 500 piso banknotes issued in 2024 (the first in the series, the 1,000 piso, was issued in 2022).

BSP partnered with Note Printing Australia for the production of the new notes, the designs of which incorporated features carefully selected to represent qualities and values that Filipinos identify with and are known for.

Moreover, each security element, from the clear windows to dynamic colour shifting effects, enable simple, rapid verification by the public.