Latest News

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

9 min read

Oumolat Means Currency, and Business

Oumolat Security Printing, which began operations in 2016, is not only the industry’s newest banknote printing company. Located in Abu Dhabi, it is also the first in the Middle East, taking advantage of the strategic location to offer banknote printing and services to the world.

Companies Interviews

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

4 min read

The Story of the Demise of Cash Processing Solutions

In the January issue of Currency News™, we covered the closure of Cash Processing Solution (CPS), the second supplier of high-speed sorting systems after Giesecke+Devrient, and the creation of a series of new entities to continue with the profitable software and services side of the business.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

3 min read

Distinkt – a New Name in Nanotech Authentication

Nanotechnology has been a fertile breeding ground for authentication devices – as structures that can be controlled at the nanoscale exhibit responses to light that are distinctive and near impossible to replicate.

Companies Technology

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

2 min read

META Continues to Burn Through Cash

META Materials Inc, a developer of high performance functional materials and nanocomposites which acquired security feature specialist Nanotech Security Corp in 2021, has announced its results for 2022, and raised concerns about its future viability unless additional funding can be secured.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

2 April 2023

3 min read

More Cash Leaders Report Return to Good Times

Last month, we covered the annual results of five of the major companies in the cash sector. This month is the turn of Prosegur, Spectra Systems and Orell Füssli, all of whom turned in a good performance for the year.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

1 March 2023

5 min read

Good Times Continue for Cash Industry Leaders

Each February it is customary in Currency News™ to cover the annual results for 2022 for the leading companies in cash management, which is when most are published, with their success (or otherwise) providing a useful means of taking the pulse of our industry.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

1 March 2023

2 min read

Oberthur Buys Into Micro-Optics

Francois Charles Oberthur (Oberthur) has acquired a 65.5% stake in Rolling Optics, a Swedish developer of micro-optics technology, for a sum believed to be in the region of $15-20 million.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

1 Feb. 2023

2 min read

KBBNS Teams with SONECT for Access to Cash

Koenig and Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBNS) has signed a new partnership with the virtual ATM company SONECT as part of its strategy to help reinvent the way we move, access and manage cash in society.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

22 Dec. 2022

2 min read

Digimarc CDS Contract Extended

Digimarc Corporation has announced a five-year extension of its agreement with the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, comprising 35 of the world’s central banks.

Companies Counterfeiting

Astrid Mitchell

22 Dec. 2022

6 min read

Conflict, Energy Crisis, Rising Inflation and Interest Rates Continue to Unsettle Markets

In the full year, only three markets were less than 10% lower compared with the beginning of the year, eight lost between 10% and 20%, and three lost between 20% and 30%.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

2 Dec. 2022

3 min read

De La Rue – Some Progress in Tough Market

De La Rue’s results for the first half of the current financial year – 2022/23 – saw sales and profits fall, along with a reduced overall profit guidance for the full year.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

2 Dec. 2022

2 min read

Crane Invests in Sustainability

Crane Currency has inaugurated a new filtration system that will reduce water consumption by as much as 500,000 cubic meters per year and remove more cotton fibres for reuse in paper production at its paper mill in Tumba, Sweden.

Companies Sustainability

Astrid Mitchell

2 Dec. 2022

2 min read

De La Rue SBTi Targets Approved

The Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) has approved De La Rue’s near-term science-based emissions reduction target.

Companies Sustainability

Astrid Mitchell

4 Nov. 2022

4 min read

Industry and Consumer Groups Convene to Support Cash

In addition to the industry associations that are advocating for cash, two new initiatives in Europe have demonstrated the scope for campaigns to promote cash acceptance at the country level by harnessing interest groups throughout society.

Central Banks Companies

Astrid Mitchell

4 Nov. 2022

4 min read

From Gold to Blockchain – Casa de Moneda Chile Reinvents Itself for the 21st Century

Despite being the oldest company in Chile (it was founded in 1743), in the last four years the state-owned firm Casa de Moneda Chile has gone ‘from the physical to the cloud’.

Banknotes Companies

Astrid Mitchell

4 Oct. 2022

3 min read

SICPA and UbiQD Partner for Quantum Dot Security

Swiss-based SICPA and New-Mexico nanotechnology company UbiQD have announced an expansion of their partnership to develop security inks based on the latter’s quantum dot technology.

Companies Technology

Astrid Mitchell

1 Aug. 2022

3 min read

Threads and the Value of Substrate-Embedded Security – an Inside View from Louisenthal

Threads have developed into a security arsenal all on their own. But to provide a truly effective defence against the counterfeiter, the technical specification and design must be integrated perfectly.

Companies Substrates, Features

Astrid Mitchell

1 Aug. 2022

7 min read

De La Rue Terminates Agreement with Portals; Latter to Close Banknote Paper Mill

On 26 July, De La Rue announced that it is terminating its ten year supply agreement with Portals Paper five years early, an agreement that formed part of private equity-backed management buyout of the paper maker in 2018.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

29 June 2022

2 min read

Komori Increases Sales and Returns to Profit

Komori Corporation has published its financial figures for 2021/22, reporting a return to profit and an increase of 22% in consolidated net sales compared to the previous year.

Companies

Astrid Mitchell

29 June 2022

5 min read

A Vision of a Circular Economy for Banknote Waste

Not many people know that Royal Dutch Kusters Engineering (Kusters) used to make fluorescent lamp recycling equipment for the electronics giant Philips, glass recycling for the brewer Heineken and coffee pod recycling for Sara Lee.

Companies Sustainability