Banknote processing is an automated process to check the

security Security is protection from, or resilience against, potential harm (or other unwanted coercion). Beneficiaries (technically referents) of security may be persons and social groups, objects and institutions, ecosystems, or any other entity or ...

(or authenticity) features and the fitness of

banknote A banknote or bank notealso called a bill (North American English) or simply a noteis a type of paper money that is made and distributed ("issued") by a bank of issue, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commerc ...

s in circulation, to count and sort them by denomination and to

balance Balance may refer to: Common meanings * Balance (ability) in biomechanics * Balance (accounting) * Balance or weighing scale * Balance, as in equality (mathematics) or equilibrium Arts and entertainment Film * Balance (1983 film), ''Balance'' ( ...

deposits. This processing of

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

is performed by security printing companies,

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, national bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the monetary policy of a country or monetary union. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central bank possesses a monopoly on increasing the mo ...

financial institution A financial institution, sometimes called a banking institution, is a business entity that provides service as an intermediary for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial ins ...

s and

cash-in-transit Cash-in-transit (CIT) or cash/valuables-in-transit (CVIT) is the physical transfer of banknotes, coins, credit cards and items of value from one location to another. The locations include cash centers and bank branches, ATM points, bureaux de c ...

(CiT) companies.

Cash Cycle

The cash cycle is driven by

coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

s for lower values and banknotes for higher values (called ''denominations''). The central bank orders the banknotes from security printing companies and stocks them. To get banknotes, financial institutions raise a credit at the central bank with paying interests and depositing securities. On request of their customers they pay them out over the bank counter or cash dispensers (i.e., automated teller machines, ATM) and put them into circulation. After paying at

cash register A cash register, sometimes called a till or automated money handling system, is a mechanical or electronic device for registering and calculating transactions at a point of sale. It is usually attached to a Cash register#Cash drawer, drawer fo ...

s of

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

gas station A filling station (also known as a gas station [] or petrol station []) is a facility that sells fuel and engine lubricants for motor vehicles. The most common fuels sold are gasoline (or petrol) and diesel fuel. Fuel dispensers are used to ...

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

s (e.g., cigarettes, tickets, drinks) or depositing in ATMs the cash is returned to the financial institutions. In most cases, CiT companies pick up the cash receipts by armored cars and refill the cash dispensers or store it in bank vaults. Depending on the country the cash cycle is regulated and structured differently. Some central banks (e.g., the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

or the

Reserve Bank of Australia The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is Australia's central bank and banknote issuing authority. It has had this role since 14 January 1960, when the ''Reserve Bank Act 1959'' removed the central banking functions from the Commonwealth Bank. Th ...

) delegate their tasks for maintaining the fitness and checking the authenticity to the financial institutions and accept only unfit banknotes to be deposited (returned). Otherwise they may charge a penalty or a fee. The

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the central component of the Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's Big Four (banking)#International ...

(ECB) stipulates that the financial institutions may always return the banknotes as standardized units (bundles of 1,000 banknotes, sorted by denomination, banded as packages of 100 banknotes) without having sorted them for the fitness level. The

Deutsche Bundesbank The Deutsche Bundesbank (, , colloquially Buba, sometimes alternatively abbreviated as BBk or DBB) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Germany within the Eurosystem. It was the German central bank from 1957 to 19 ...

(DBB) even accepts unsorted banknotes as "multi-denomination deposit" for a moderate

fee A fee is the price one pays as remuneration for rights or services. Fees usually allow for overhead, wages, costs, and markup. Traditionally, professionals in the United Kingdom (and previously the Republic of Ireland) receive a fee in contrad ...

independent from the amount of the payment. This attractive offering supports a high quality of the cash in circulation and the reliable and early detection of

counterfeit money Counterfeit money is currency produced outside of the legal sanction of a state or government, usually in a deliberate attempt to imitate that currency and so as to deceive its recipient. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud ...

all over

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; , NBB; , BNB; , BNB) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Belgium within the Eurosystem. It was the Belgian central bank from 1850 until 1998, established by law of and issuin ...

, the

Oesterreichische Nationalbank The (, , abbr. ) is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Austria within the Eurosystem. It was the Austrian central bank from 1923 to 1938 and from 1945 to 1998, issuing the Austrian schilling, shilling. It star ...

with its participation in ''Geldservice Austria'' (GSA) and the Central Bank of Luxembourg apply similar models of the optimized cash cycle. The central banks define the conditions for the recirculation of fit banknotes by the financial institutions. The ECB, with its ''Decision on the authenticity and fitness checking and recirculation of euro banknotes'' (ECB/2010/14), defines a minimum standard for the recirculation of

euro banknotes Banknotes of the euro, the common currency of the eurozone (euro area members), have been in circulation since the first series (also called ''ES1'') was issued in 2002. They are issued by the national central banks of the Eurosystem or the Eur ...

by financial institutions and other professional cash handlers. This includes the verification of authenticity and sufficient fitness level by certified ''banknote processing machines''. Damaged and soiled banknotes must be returned to the National Central Bank (NCB). Suspect counterfeit money must be handed over to the competent national authorities.

History

Counting machines

First mechanical means for the sorting and counting of banknotes existed in the 1920s already. In 1916, the USA granted the

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...

''Machine for Assorting and Counting Paper Money''. The machine offered several slots for feeding banknotes by a cashier and used mechanical counters. It was used as ''Federal Bill Counter'' by the

Federal Reserve System The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

over several decades. From 1957, the British

De La Rue De La Rue plc (, ) is a British company headquartered in Basingstoke, England, that produces secure digital and physical protections for goods, trade, and identities in 140 countries. It sells to governments, central banks, and businesses. Its ...

marketed the first counting machine based on spindle principles, i.e., with counting the pieces on the edges.

Sorting machines

When

microelectronics Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre ...

became available by the end of the 1960s, the development of sorting machines started to check the authenticity and fitness of banknotes in one step. First prototypes were developed by

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, by Crosfield Business Machines under the guidance of John Crosfield in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, by ''Società di Fisica Applicata'' (SFA) in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and by ''Gesellschaft für Automation und Organisation'' (GAO), a subcompany of

Giesecke+Devrient Giesecke may refer to: People: * Heinz-Eberhard Giesecke (1913–1991), German historian * Karl Ludwig Giesecke FRSE (1761–1833), German actor, librettist, polar explorer and mineralogist * Markus Giesecke (born 1979), German futsal player from R ...

(G+D), in

under the guidance of

Helmut Gröttrup Helmut Gröttrup (12 February 1916 – 4 July 1981) was a German engineer, rocket scientist and inventor of the smart card. During World War II, he worked in the German V-2 rocket program under Wernher von Braun. From 1946 to 1950 he headed a gr ...

. In 1976 the US company ''Recognition Equipment Inc'' (REI) joined. The demand was driven by the central banks, mainly

Bank of Japan The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo. The said bank is a corporate entity ...

Banca d'Italia The Bank of Italy (Italian language, Italian: ''Banca d'Italia'', , informally referred to as ''Bankitalia'') is the National central bank (Eurosystem), national central bank for Italy within the Eurosystem. It was the Italian central bank from ...

De Nederlandsche Bank De Nederlandsche Bank (, , abbr. DNB) is the national central bank for the Netherlands within the Eurosystem. It was the Dutch central bank from 1814 to 1998, issuing the guilder. Since 2014, it has also been the country's national competent au ...

and the German

. The sorting machines of the first generation achieved a processing speed of 4 up to 20 banknotes per second. In many cases they were built on the technology of reading

punched card A punched card (also punch card or punched-card) is a stiff paper-based medium used to store digital information via the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Developed over the 18th to 20th centuries, punched cards were widel ...

s or mail sorting or used synergies in manufacturing such machines. The model ''ISS 300'' of G+D was a product of the first generation and designed as a ''semi-automatic machine''. It sorted the banknotes of a preselected denomination by authenticity and fitness, achieved a processing speed of 8 banknotes per seconds and was introduced by the Deutsche Bundesbank in 1977. It was manufactured until 2000 and set a world-wide reference of banknote processing systems with more than 2,100 sold systems to 67 countries. In 2006, an early machine was exhibited in the

Deutsches Museum The Deutsches Museum (''German Museum'', officially (English: ''German Museum of Masterpieces of Science and Technology'')) in Munich, Germany, is the world's largest museum of science museum, science and technology museum, technology, with a ...

to demonstrate

pattern recognition Pattern recognition is the task of assigning a class to an observation based on patterns extracted from data. While similar, pattern recognition (PR) is not to be confused with pattern machines (PM) which may possess PR capabilities but their p ...

as an early application of

information technology Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...

. From 1985, the progress of microelectronics on base of

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

s enabled banknote processing systems with a processing speed of up to 40 banknotes per second with fully automated functions of debanding, banding, bundling and online destruction by a

paper shredder A paper shredder is a mechanical device used to cut sheets of paper into either strips or fine particles. Government organizations, businesses, and private individuals use shredders to destroy private, confidential, or otherwise sensitive do ...

. The ''BPS 3000'' from G+D was a second generation machine which dominated the market as ''fully automatic machine'' after achieving a large order from the US

Federal Reserve The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...

in 1990 and replaced the ''Currency Verification and Counting System'' (CVCS) from REI. The Deutsche Bundesbank and further central banks followed. As variant BPS 2000 OBIS it became a world-wide standard for the final quality inspection of single notes in banknote printing works.'' File:Banknote Processing System ISS 300PS.jpg, Banknote processing system ISS 300PS exhibited im Deutschen Museum (1986/2006) File:REI CVCS mit Bill Counter.jpg, REI CVCS banknote processing system with Federal Bill Counter (1994) File:Banknote Processing in India with BPS 200.jpg, Banknote processing in an Indian cash center with BPS 200 from G+D (2004) File:Banknote Processing in the Central Bank of Democratic Republic of the Congo.jpg, Banknote processing in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

with BPS 200 and a DLR 8762 tabletop sorter from De La Rue (2010)

Functions of banknote processing

The machines for banknote processing offer different levels of

automation Automation describes a wide range of technologies that reduce human intervention in processes, mainly by predetermining decision criteria, subprocess relationships, and related actions, as well as embodying those predeterminations in machine ...

with a processing speed of up to 44 banknotes per second.

Automated feeding

With the highest automation level the banknotes are automatically fed to the singler by using the following principles: * Feeding of printed sheets of paper with up to 60 banknotes in security printing into a cutting system and subsequent filling of circulating carriers with up to 1,000 loose banknotes each * Feeding of loose banknotes from standardized trays * Feeding of packaged banknotes by automated opening of parcels and bundles (e.g., a

carton A carton is a box or container usually made of liquid packaging board, paperboard and sometimes of corrugated fiberboard. Many types of cartons are used in packaging. Sometimes a carton is also called a box. Types of cartons Folding cartons ...

or a

shrink wrap Shrink wrap, also shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied, it shrinks tightly over whatever it is covering. Heat can be applied with a handheld heat gun (electric or gas), or the product and film can p ...

ped parcel of 10 bundles with 10 packages of 100 banknotes) * Debanding of the packages by cutting and removing the currency straps

Singler

The singler pulls single banknotes from a stack. Simple machines are using the

friction Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of solid surfaces, fluid layers, and material elements sliding against each other. Types of friction include dry, fluid, lubricated, skin, and internal -- an incomplete list. The study of t ...

principle (friction singler), grip them at the long edge and transport, and evaluate and sort them by a short-edge transport. High-speed machines additionally use

compressed air Compressed air is air kept under a pressure that is greater than atmospheric pressure. Compressed air in vehicle tires and shock absorbers are commonly used for improved traction and reduced vibration. Compressed air is an important medium for t ...

and

suction Suction is the day-to-day term for the movement of gases or liquids along a pressure gradient with the implication that the movement occurs because the lower pressure pulls the gas or liquid. However, the forces acting in this case do not orig ...

, grip the banknotes at the short edge (long-edge transport) and bring them within milliseconds to a speed of up to 11 m/s (approx. 40 km/h or 25 miles/hour). This banknotes are accelerated by more than 500-fold earth gravity (i.e., >5,000 m/s²). A special challenge is the singling of banknotes with poor quality, e.g., due to limpness, soiling, mechanical defects, glued by

adhesive tape Adhesive tape is one of many varieties of backing materials coated with an adhesive. Several types of adhesives can be used. Types Pressure-sensitive tape Pressure-sensitive tape, PSA tape, self-stick tape or sticky tape consists of a pre ...

chewing gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its tex ...

, often distorted by long storage, or high moisture. By using separator cards or header cards, different deposits can be accounted separately without interrupting the singling.

Detectors

The currency detectors specialized for high-speed processing check each single banknote for the following features: * Detecting the denomination,

series Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used i ...

and orientation, e.g., distinguishing

between series ES1 and ES2 or sorting

US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

for faced orientation * Reading the serial number for statistical purposes, if applicable for the search of

blackmail Blackmail is a criminal act of coercion using a threat. As a criminal offense, blackmail is defined in various ways in common law jurisdictions. In the United States, blackmail is generally defined as a crime of information, involving a thr ...

money * Checking the authenticity of banknote based on machine-readable security features * Determining the fitness for recirculation by evaluating

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

stain A stain is a discoloration that can be clearly distinguished from the surface, material, or medium it is found upon. They are caused by the chemical or physical interaction of two dissimilar materials. Accidental staining may make materials app ...

s, ink wear, and mechanical damages (e.g.,

tearing Tearing is the act of breaking apart a material by force, without the aid of a cutting tool. A tear in a piece of paper, fabric, or some other similar object may be the result of the intentional effort with one's bare hands, or be accidental. ...

, holes,

s, dog ears, missing parts, fold, crumpling, limpness) * Detecting dyed banknotes which were neutralized by an ''Intelligent Banknote Neutralisation System'' (IBNS), e.g., when a stolen ATM cassette was opened without authorization Optical and other physical measuring systems are used to detect these characteristics. Security features of banknotes are strictly

covert Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controver ...

with regard to composition and detection principles. Banknotes which cannot be verified as genuine are rejected to a special output pocket for manual inspection. This also applies for multiple items if the singler pulls more than one banknote at once. The machine operator can refeed them to the singler or check the human-readable authenticity features for verification.

Stacking and packaging

The processed banknotes are output to various stackers depending on the evaluated category. In general stackers with

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

slots are used to receive the banknotes, decelerate them on shortest distance (<200 mm) and stack them. Depending on the degree of automation the stacking may comprise the following steps: * Separation (sorting) by denomination, series, orientation and fitness level (optionally including differentation for ATM fitness and standard fitness for circulation) * Counting and stacking as loose banknotes * Transfer of loose banknotes into special trays * Banding as output packages with 100 banknotes. The currency strap is 25 to 40 mm wide and is printed with processing data. As strapping requires some time two alternating stackers (

tandem Tandem, or in tandem, is an arrangement in which two or more animals, machines, or people are lined up one behind another, all facing in the same direction. ''Tandem'' can also be used more generally to refer to any group of persons or objects w ...

operation) are assigned to one sorting category. * Pre-packaging of bundles with 5 or 10 output packages for a unit of 500 or 1,000 banknotes, optionally with a

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product. Labels are most often affixed to packaging and containers using an adhesive, or sewing when affix ...

printed with processing data * Bundling of the units by a

packaging machinery Packaging machinery is used throughout all packaging operations, involving primary packages to distribution packs. This includes many packaging processes: fabrication, cleaning, filling, sealing, combining, labeling, overwrapping, palletizing. O ...

with using

vacuum packing Vacuum packing is a method of packaging that removes air from the package prior to sealing. This method involves placing items in a plastic film package, removing air from inside and sealing the package. Shrink film is sometimes used to have a ti ...

. This procedure protects the banknotes from soil and dirt and prevents the

theft Theft (, cognate to ) is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shor ...

of single banknotes. * Aggregation of 4 to 20 bundles with using shrink wrap or

(secondary packaging) * Automated palletizing by a

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

Destruction

The destruction of unfit or recalled banknotes is a responsibility of the central bank. In general, the destruction is performed by a shredder. The machine cross-cuts the banknotes to particles (shreds) with an area of less than 25 mm². This work process is executed under very high security provisions to preclude manipulation of authenticity detection and counting. Optionally, digital signatures are used to protect the

application software Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not operating, administering or programming the computer. An application (app, application program, software application) is any program that can be categorized as ...

and transmission of counting data. In a second stage the shreds are collected by a special suction system and briquetted to reduce the volume. The briquettes may be disposed of in a

landfill A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

or burnt for heat generation. Some central banks offer shreds as a popular

souvenir A souvenir ( French for 'a remembrance or memory'), memento, keepsake, or token of remembrance is an object a person acquires for the memories the owner associates with it. A souvenir can be any object that can be collected or purchased and trans ...

. File:Euro banknote shreds.jpg, Shreds of euro banknotes (series ES2) with a typical size of 1.5 x 14 mm² File:Geldscheine geschreddert und zu Block verpresst P5130163.jpg, Briquetted euro banknotes by

(approx. 1 kg) File:Shreds US Dollar Details.jpg, Shredded

with a typical size of 1.5 × 14 mm² File:Fed-Shreds of US dollar from FRB San Francisco.jpg, Shredded US dollar by

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco (informally referred to as the San Francisco Fed) is the Federal Reserve, federal bank for the twelfth district in the United States. The twelfth district is made up of nine western U.S. state, states— ...

as souvenir File:Shredded US-Dollar Notes front view.jpg, Briquetted US dollar by

Federal Reserve Bank of New York The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks of the United States. It is responsible for the Second District of the Federal Reserve System, which encompasses the New York (state), State of New York, the 12 norther ...

(approx. 1,000 pieces, 1 kg)

Market and manufacturers

Since 1995 the offering of banknote processing machines has differentiated to the following product classes: * Modular high-speed systems with a high degree of automation and a processing speed of more than 20 banknotes per second with up to 20 output stackers for the concurrent processing of mixed denominations (multi-denomination processing) or mixed

currencies A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or currency in circulation, circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use wi ...

* Modular desktop systems for mid-range performance (mainly used by cash centers of CiT companies and financial institutions) * Compact tabletop systems with up to 4 output stackers for the use in the

back office A back office in most corporations is where work that supports '' front office'' work is done. The front office is the "face" of the company and is all the resources of the company that are used to make sales and interact with customers and clien ...

of a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make a profit. It can also refer to a bank or a division of a larger bank that deals with whol ...

branch * Simple tabletop systems for the

cashier A retail cashier or simply a cashier is a person who handles the cash register at various locations such as the point of sale in a retail store. The most common use of the title is in the retail industry, but this job title is also used in the c ...

for counting and low-level authenticity verification (no sorting) The preeminent market leader for high-speed systems is the German

(G+D), followed by the Japanese

and the British-American ''Cash Processing Solutions'' (CPS) with low market shares. The CPS products are based on the technology of Recognition Equipment Inc. (REI), which was acquired by ''Currency Systems International'' (CSI) in 1990, by ''De La Rue'' in 2002 and divested to CPS in 2016. In January 2023, CPS announced to withdraw from this market segment and is focusing on service and software business instead. The Japanese ''Glory'', followed by G+D and several Chinese, Korean and Japanese suppliers, leads the desktop and compact tabletop market. Super-large cash centers have a capacity of processing up to 20 million banknotes per day. They are protected by the highest security provisions to protect from heists. The world-wide largest cash centers are: *

: East Rutherford Operations Center (EROC) with high-speed systems from G+D, operational since 1992. For the first time it used an

automated storage and retrieval system An automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS or AS/RS) consists of a variety of computer-controlled systems for automatically placing and retrieving loads from defined storage locations. Automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) are ty ...

(AS/RS) and

automated guided vehicle An automated guided vehicle (AGV), different from an autonomous mobile robot (AMR), is a portable robot that follows along marked long lines or wires on the floor, or uses radio waves, vision cameras, magnets, or lasers for navigation. They ar ...

s (AGV). *

: Center in Toda (North of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

) with high-speed systems from Toshiba, operational since 1993. It has a very high degree of automation with nearly unmanned operation from the deposited to the withdrawn parcel, using

conveyor belt A conveyor belt is the carrying medium of a belt conveyor system (often shortened to a belt conveyor). A belt conveyor system consists of two or more pulleys (sometimes referred to as drums), with a closed loop of carrying medium—the conveyor b ...

s and packaging machinery. *

People's Bank of China The People's Bank of China (officially PBC and unofficially PBOC) is the central bank of the People's Republic of China. It is responsible for carrying out monetary policy as determined by the ''PRC People's Bank Law'' and the ''PRC Commercia ...

: Several large cash centers in

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

s, mainly with high-speed processing systems from G+D, operational since 2003 *

: Cash center in

Dortmund Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...

, operational since July 2021. It is using a high degree of automation with a standardized "P-Behälter" and relies on conveyors belts, automated guided vehicles and packaging systems. * Central Bank of Egypt:

security printing Security printing is the field of the printing industry that deals with the printing of items such as banknotes, cheques, passports, tamper-evident labels, security tapes, product authentication, stock certificates, postage stamps, and identity c ...

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

and highly automated cash center in the

New Administrative Capital New Administrative Capital (NAC) () is a New Urban Communities Authority, new urban community east of New Cairo in Cairo Governorate, Egypt and a satellite city of Cairo. As of May 2023, 14 ministries and government entities have been relocated ...

with a daily capacity of processing 20 million banknotes, operational since 2022

Related technologies

Banknote processing is a special application of document processing for currency based on security paper or

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

. Therefore some manufacturers tried adapting existing technology for banknote processing, especially for the singling and

image scanner An image scanner (often abbreviated to just scanner) is a device that optically scans images, printed text, handwriting, or an object and converts it to a digital image. The most common type of scanner used in the home and the office is the flatbe ...

. Such applications comprised: * Punched card sorter: Reading of binary encoded information and sorting of punched cards, see also Hollerith machines * Checks: Reading of checks (or cheques) by

magnetic ink character recognition Magnetic ink character recognition code, known in short as MICR code, is a character recognition technology used mainly by the banking industry to streamline the processing and clearance of cheques and other documents. MICR encoding, called the ...

(MICR) and sorting for the paying financial institutions. In 2000, the US Federal Reserve System processed more checks (approx. 40 billion per year) than banknotes. Since 2003, with

Check 21 Act The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act (or Check 21 Act) is a United States federal law, , that was enacted on October 28, 2003 by the 108th U.S. Congress. The Check 21 Act took effect one year later on October 28, 2004. The law allows t ...

and check truncation, the full image scanning of checks is used and physical return if the checks to the paying financial institution is no longer necessary. *

Voucher A voucher is a bond of the redeemable transaction type which is worth a certain money, monetary value and which may be spent only for specific reasons or on specific goods. Examples include house, housing, travel, and food vouchers. The term vou ...

s and

coupon In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be redeemed for a financial discount or rebate when purchasing a product. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in ...

s: Reading of documents with a defined value, mainly used in

casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

s and retail. In some countries food coupons are used to subsidize the deserving poor. *

Medical prescription A prescription, often abbreviated or Rx, is a formal communication from physicians or other registered healthcare professionals to a pharmacist, authorizing them to dispense a specific prescription drug for a specific patient. Historicall ...

s: Scanning and reading of printed documents for central accounting with

health insurance Health insurance or medical insurance (also known as medical aid in South Africa) is a type of insurance that covers the whole or a part of the risk of a person incurring medical expenses. As with other types of insurance, risk is shared among ma ...

companies * Mail sorting: Reading the address of letters and sorting by the

postal code A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or numerical digit, digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, inclu ...

. Modern systems are capable of sorting the letters according to the detailed sequence of destinations for the distribution by the mailman. Meanwhile these applications are differentiated because the requirements for banknote processing are quite special. Only Toshiba is offering banknote processing and mail sorting machinery from the same division.

Patents

One of the first comprehensive

patent application A patent application is a request pending at a patent office for the grant of a patent for an invention described in the patent specification and a set of one or more claim (patent), claims stated in a formal document, including necessary officia ...

s was filed by the Italian ''Societá di Fisica Applicata'' (SFA) on May 31, 1972, as "Automatic Used Banknote Selecting Machine". It described an apparatus for the detection of counterfeits (by

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations i ...

fluorescence Fluorescence is one of two kinds of photoluminescence, the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. When exposed to ultraviolet radiation, many substances will glow (fluoresce) with colore ...

and intaglio printing), the measuring of the wearing by comparison with a sample banknote, and the reading of the serial number. SFA developed the machine ''Selenota'' which was used by the central banks of Italy and Spain until the early 1980s. The patent US 3,800,155 which was granted on March 26, 1974, was easily avoided due to weak claims and only had little market impact. In the 1990s, the US company Cummins Allison Corp. installed a comprehensive patent protection for tabletop machines, especially for the combination of short-edge transport with a processing speed of more than 800 banknotes per minute. In 2003 it filed infringement lawsuits against Japanese Glory and Korean Shinwoo for compensation of the damage and fine with several tens of million US dollar. With this success Cummins Allison could seal the US market of tabletop machines off from competition until the main patents expired in 2017. Meanwhile the relevant basic patent have expired for all product segments. Therefore manufacturers from China and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

have tried to enter the market of high-speed machines by copied technology, but with little success due to issues of

product quality In business, engineering, and manufacturing, quality – or high quality – has a pragmatic interpretation as the non-inferiority or superiority of something (goods or services); it is also defined as being suitable for the intended purpose (f ...

Literature and media

* Criminal fiction ''Montecristo'' from Martin Suter describing a white-collar crime by unauthorized printing of

Swiss franc The Swiss franc, or simply the franc, is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is also legal tender in the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia which is surrounded by Swiss territory. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) iss ...

* Documentary film ''Tonbridge Securitas Heist'' on Securitas depot robbery in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

, Kent, with a prey of £53.1m in 2006 * Action film Den of Thieves with a fictional raid on a cash transport and the Los Angeles branch of the

. The scenery of banknote processing does not correspond to the principle of FRB operations.

References

{{reflist Banknotes Security