Gulf States Take Step Toward Monetary Union Four Gulf Arab states (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar) took a step toward creating a European Union-style shared currency by setting up a precursor to a regional central bank. read more ...

New set of Jersey banknotes A COMPLETE set of new Jersey banknotes will enter general circulation in February, the Treasury Minister has revealed. Senator Philip Ozouf has also announced that next year will see the introduction of a £100 note. read more...

Turkey remove the prefix "New" from Lira. Turkey will remove the prefix “New” from its national currency “New Turkish Lira” as of 1st January 2010, introducing the second phase of its currency reform. The legal circulation period of E-8 Emission Group New Turkish Lira banknotes, which will be in circulation along with E-9 Emission Group Turkish Lira banknotes between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2009 read more ...

BSP opens a bid for new printing equipment The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has bid out the purchase of a P2.6-billion printing machine with a deadline set for the end of this month. It will replace two printers from circa 1976 and 1981. read more...

50% OFF Security Feature Guide In-depth survey of current security features used in modern banknotes, coins, checks, valuables, credit cards, etc. Contains: more than 800 details (illustrations and animations) of banknotes, counterfeits, security features. Security features types.Detection modes. Banknotes and coins production. Counterfeiting. read more...

Currency exchange in North Korea North Koreans have been given one week to exchange their old currency for the new one at the exchange rate of 100 to 1, but the government has limited the maximum value of notes that can be converted to 150 000 wons per household. read more ...

Kenya currency excludes portraits Kenya’s coins and notes will not bear the portrait of any individual if the proposals in the new draft Constitution of Kenya are adopted. A referendum is scheduled for early march next year. read more...

India going polymer Reserve Bank of India planning to introduce Rs 10 polymer banknotes. Explaining the rationale for introduction of polymer notes, the official said, these notes would have an average life span of 5 years compared to one year for the currency notes. read more ...

Slovak company Innovatrics to produce biometric passports for Ghana Ghana will be meeting the International Aviation Organisation’s (ICAO) deadline for member states to provide their nationals with the new system to facilitate easy movements into member countries of ICAO. read more...

Botswana start to issue e-passport in March 2010 The current Botswana passport will be in use till December 2011 when the government will start to replace them with the recently introduced e-passport. "After 2011, all applicants will be issued with the new e-passport. read more...

Germany will introduce smart ID Cards in 2010 From late 2010, German citizens will receive identity cards that contain radio chips and biometric data. While some believe it will make Internet transactions more secure, others fear the information could be misused. read more...

Kuwait eID cards from Gemalto Gemalto is delivering national eID cards to Kuwait as part of a government programme. Rollout of the cards began in June 2009 and is compulsory for all Kuwaiti inhabitants. The card will serve as the official ID document for Kuwaiti citizens and will also be used as a travel document in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. read more...

The "2010 Passport" The Swiss Federal Council has given the thumbs up to the introduction of electronic passports - the "2010 Passport" - in Switzerland. Switzerland is now mandated to introduce the ePassports by 1 March 2010 at the latest. read more...