Uganda 50,000 shilling - Banknote of 2010 Uganda´s 50,000 shilling note won ´Banknote of 2010´ after The International Bank Note Society´s (IBNS) decision. Its strong design elements - as watermark, the outlined map of Uganda, the ´Stride Monument´, the Bwindi tropical rain forest, a foil strip and many more, made this banknote the award-winning note in the competition. Read more ...

2012 - New banknotes in Namibia The Bank of Namibia decided to issue a new family banknotes in 2012. The decision was made as a result of rapid technological advancement in the banknote industry and the fact that the security features of the banknotes are effective for approximately 8 years. Both the new and the old banknotes will be accepted as legal tender until the old banknotes are phased out. Read more ...

The Money Sculptures of Justine Smith Very interesting article about Justine Smith´s work - The Money Sculptures, where Justine makes original sculptures and collages using real banknotes from various countries around the world. Read more ...

Europium found in Euros. This is very educational article about luminescence, which is one of the measures against a counterfeiting. Here you can read what is behind it, that trivalent rare earth elements are luminescent, which means, that they can be excited by shinning a light of a particular wavelenght at them. Read more ...

Malaysia announced issuing banknotes and coins in 2012 New series design of Malaysian banknotes and coins will be issued for circulation in early 2012 as Bank Negara Malaysia announced. An enhanced security elements will be integrated together with features that are markedly Malaysian. Until the old banknotes will be withdrawned from circulation, new series of banknotes and coins will co-circulate with the existing series. Read more ...

Gibraltar new note family now complete With the introduction of the £5, £20 and £100 denominations on 11 May 2011, Gibraltar´s new family of banknotes is now complete. The notes were released into circulation in two phases, the £10 and £50 on 8 July 2010 and the £5, £20, £100 on 11 May 2011. Read more ...

India´s banknotes will have new security features Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee announced that the government will introduce new security features in banknotes of all denominations. Mukherjee also said that the present bank notes with the new Rupee symbol and new coins with Rupee symbol, better designs and shine will be released in July. Read more ...

Palestine declares Independence It is amazing that among all the buzz in the ´international community´ about whether Palestine is ready for indepencence, the question of a currency for Palestine has not been featured at all. As far as we know the preparation for September surprise should result in new Palestine´s currency - the Palestinian pound. Read more ...

Kazakhstan issued new 1,000 Tenge On the 25 May 2011 Republic of Kazakhstan announced its new 1,000 commemorative Tenge. Read more ...

Iceland may issue 10,000 krona note After a decades of inflation, and confirmation that 5,000 krona banknote is impractical because its low value, specially in a relatively expensive Nordic country - there are rumours that new 10,000kronur note will come into circulation, replacing the 5,000 as the biggest denomination. Read more ...

Somali Shillings burnt after the currency switch After the currency switch in Somaliland, senior officials from the Central Bank of Somaliland started to collect, destroy and burn the old Shilling currency which is worth 50% less against the Somaliland Shillings. The old Shilling was supposed to remain valid till mid June in some regions, but Somalilanders have been hurrying change their cash. The Central Bank of Somaliland has already replaced 7 billion Somali shillings in the Togdher region. Read more ...

Canada - new polymer banknotes The Bank of Canada starting to issue new polymer bank note series. Starting with $100 which is planned to be issued in November 2011, following $50 in March 2012 and $20, $10, $5 in late 2013. New banknotes and its design are described as a reflection of Canadians story. The bank notes evoke country´s spirit of innovation, and designs celebrate Canada´s achievements at home, around the world and in space. Read more ...

Malawi - 1,000 Kwacha in circulation soon Reserve Bank of Malawi announced that it will soon put into circulation new 1,000 Kwacha bank notes. British banknote printer De La Rue had been honoured to print the new 1,000 banknotes together with Malawi passport and yet-to-be introduced National Identity Cards. Read more ...

New family banknotes in Mozambique Banco de Mozambique announced the issuing new family banknotes in September or October 2011. The banknotes will be in similar design to existing series, but with improved security features. Three smaller denominations will be printed on polymer and three larger denominations will remain printed on paper. Read more ...

Banking cards and e-Passports are at risk The big issue at annual Biometrics Institute Australia conference in Sydney were banking cards and e-Passports which are at risk from wireless skimming devices. It was mentioned how easy it was to procure proximity card skimmers on eBay and to use them to get unencrypted data from someone´s card while on public transport, for example. There was posed a risk at Information security on passports and credit cards and government is looking for ways to make them more secure. Read more...

Will there be a passport database of fraudulent travelers at the airports? Interpol came with an idea to create a passport database with travelers attempting to use fraudulent or stolen passport. Airlines across the globe were asked to cooperate, as a prevention against terrorist attacks. While airlines are not all on board with such a database, we believe it becomes a reality in the near future. Read more...

New electronic ID cards in Georgia New electronic ID cards will replace old ID cards in Georgia, it will be made of plastic with the certificate of electronic signature in it. The new electronic ID cards will simplify relation of state and private sectors with Georgian citizens. The card will be available from July. Read more ...

ID Card for Tour Guide in Europe? European Tour Operators Association starts to issue Tour Guide ID Cards for its members. The main aim is to support freedom of tour guides working in Europe, but only those with relevant degree, licence, training. The card will identify the holder as a tourism professional, which can be of use when carrying out research and in dealings with the industry more generally. Read more...

Will Thailand issue ID cards for children? There are some attempts in Thailand to issue ID cards for children over 7 years. Read very interesting article... Read more ...

Universal Electronic Card in Russia From 1st of January 2012 there will be The Universal Electronic Card issued, it will replace all local Id´s. The users will be able to pay for goods and services in Russia and abroad and possibly even vote. The card will improve the interactions between the citizen and the state and provide new possibilities to Russian citizens. Read more ...

Indonesian new e-passport Immigration department in Indonesia launched the e-passport, to anticipate forgery. The e-passport is very sophisticated and very difficult to be forged because there is a special chip in it. The chip contains the holder´s personal data embedded inside the book for a more accurate identification process. Read more ...

Smart ID card project in South Africa The Department of Home Affairs is starting smart ID card system for South African citizens. New system should replace the current green ID book that South African residents are required to have as proof of identity for various official institutions, such as banks, government services and to vote. Read more ...

3D photos - new security feature? Morpho Track promotes new trend of identification, which is to simplify the security features and make them personalized. They came up with an idea of security feature that matters you, using our own portrait as a security feature by using the brain to make 2D photos into 3D images. Read more...

An article which attracted us An occasional studies introduces the ´all-in-one method´ to select security features for new banknote designs. This approach lists all relevant issues for a smooth decision making process. This is necessary as central banks seem to follow each other in suboptimal features promoted by the security industry. This study is not interesting only for central banks, but also for people who are interested in security feature world. Read more...