Bitcoin Value Sinks Amid China Restrictions

Cashless Payments, News, Technology

BTCChina, China’s biggest Bitcoin exchange, has stopped accepting deposits in Chinese yuan. According to the company, the People’s Bank of China has spoken to a number of payment processors in China asking them to stop trading with Bitcoin exchanges by January 1, 2014. The BTCChina website posted the following note yesterday: “Dear BTC China users:…

Bank of England Confirms Polymer Banknotes

Banknotes, News

A press release issued today by the Bank of England has announced that polymer £5 and £10 banknotes will be issued from 2016. The new notes will use similar designs to the existing £5 and £10 banknotes currently in circulation – including similar colour schemes as the previous notes and a portrait of Her Majesty…

Europa

ECB launches €10 banknote competition

Banknotes, News

The European Central Bank (ECB) is due to unveil the new €10 banknote in January 2014 and is expected to begin circulating later in the year. To promote the banknote’s security features, the ECB is holding an online competition for all European Union (EU) residents over 18 years old. Participants need to guess 4 of…

De La Rue Wins Queen’s Award

Banknotes, News, Technology

On December 5, 2013, His Royal Highness the Duke of Kent presented De La Rue (DLR) with the “Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation” at its new state-of-the-art technology centre in Overton, Hampshire, UK. The award is the highest accolade for business success, and DLR has now received 12 such awards in total since the company…

Kazakhstan note

New Kazakhstan Commemorative Banknote

Banknotes, News

The National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan issued a press release on the 12 December 2013 confirming the issue of a new commemorative KZT 1,000 tenge banknote. The note, dedicated to the Second Turkic Kaganate general Kultegin, uses a paper substrate with yellow-brown being the prevalent colour. It has a 12mm holographic band/stripe which…

New Swiss Banknotes to be issued from 2015

Banknotes, News

At a media news conference held on the 12 December in Berne, Switzerland, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) advised that the first of its new denomination series will not be issued until 2015 at the earliest. The release of the new banknotes has suffered a series of delays but the SNB states that due to…

Binary code_coins_image

JP Morgan files for Bitcoin-style payment system

Cashless Payments, News, Technology

A US patent application has been filed by JPMorgan Chase for an online payment system, resembling the Bitcoin virtual currency. The application says that its new payment system will compete with credit and debit cards for online transactions, creating “virtual cash” that will sit in an online wallet. Similarly to Bitcoin’s “blockchain” technology, each transaction…

Mobile payments

Fortumo Brings Mobile Payments to Indonesia

Cashless Payments, News

On the 10th December Fortumo, a mobile payments provider, launched mobile operator billing in Indonesia. Founded in 2007, Fortumo is “the most developer-friendly mobile payments provider”, enabling developers to earn money from users who purchase their apps and games which are charged to the users’ mobile phone bill. Indonesia is the fourth largest country by…

Norway’s New Banknote Theme: The Sea

Banknotes, News

Norges Bank, the Central Bank of Norway, has announced that the theme of their new banknote series will feature the sea to reflect its importance for Norway’s economy. Work on the new banknote series, the 8th in total, began in the autumn of 2012. Norges Bank has said that there is a “need to enhance…