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New Europa €10 banknote announced

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 13/01/2014

The European Central Bank (ECB) has today issued a press release announcing the new €10 banknote. The new banknote, part of the recently released Europa series, will begin to circulate on the 23rd September 2014, allowing retailers and other cash handlers time to prepare for its release into circulation. The new banknote design will gradually…

Latvia Joins Euro

Currency, NewsBy SMI 01/01/2014

At midnight on the 1st January 2014, Latvia became the 18th country to join the euro currency. The changeover has caused a mixture of emotions, with some opinion polls suggesting almost 60% of the population did not want to move to the euro currency. However, business owners as well as the government believe it will…

ECB launches €10 banknote competition

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 18/12/2013

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…

New Swiss Banknotes to be issued from 2015

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 13/12/2013

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…

Norway’s New Banknote Theme: The Sea

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 04/12/2013

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…

ECB issues recommendations for secure mobile payments

Cashless Payments, NewsBy SMI 02/12/2013

The European Central Bank (ECB) has warned that mobile payment technology currently used by smartphone operating systems represent a security risk as customers increasingly adopt mobile payments for their day to day purchases. As previously reported, mobile phone payments are growing rapidly as smartphone technology becomes more widely available and as consumer trust in the…

ECB to introduce new €10 banknote

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 28/11/2013

The European Central Bank (ECB) announced that a new Europa series €10 banknote will be unveiled on January 13, 2014 and issued later in the year. The Partnership Program, held by the ECB and the national Central Banks (NCB) in the Euro area on November 26, 2013, aimed to help banknote equipment manufacturers and suppliers,…

Decline in ECB Euro Counterfeit Statistics

Banknotes, Currency, NewsBy SMI 17/07/2012

The counterfeit statistics for the first half of 2012 have now been released by the European Central Bank (ECB). The total number of counterfeit euro banknotes which were removed from circulation during the 6 months from January to June 2012 totalled 251,000, a decrease of 15.2% compared to the same period in 2011. However, when comparing the number of…

Eesti Pank begins euro banknote production

Banknotes, NewsBy SMI 09/05/2012

Estonia adopted the euro on 1 January 2011, replacing the kroon as the country’s official currency. Eesti Pank, the Central Bank of Estonia, will begin producing euro banknotes for the first time this year. Eesti Pank, alongside other euro countries, must provide euro banknotes each year via a joint procurement with other euro countries. This…

Euro currency stability questioned again

Currency, NewsBy SMI 18/04/2012

As the markets have calmed over the past months, the rumours of a collapsing Euro became only whispers. However the Euro once again appears to become more fragile, with recent turmoil in the Spanish markets and money being moved across borders in all regions. Despite the markets calming, the trend over the past few months…