The head of payments at Reserve Bank of Australia, Tony Richards, has warned printed counterfeit notes are on the rise, while overall cash use is seeing a downward trend. Speaking on the ongoing evolution of the Australian payments system at the Payments Innovation 2016 conference, Richards informed audiences the Bank will undertake a major upgrade to the existing stock of notes to counteract the illegal printing. He says, “Counterfeiting rates of the current series of banknotes remain low by international standards but have been rising and there are some signs that the counterfeiters are getting better with new and cheaper scanning, printing and image manipulation technology.

RBA head of payments Tony Richards reports counterfeit cash printing is increasing

“Accordingly, the programme for the next generation of banknotes includes major security upgrades that should ensure that Australia’s banknotes remain some of the world’s most secure.” The first release of the new notes is set for September this year, coinciding with the release of the new five dollar note. Richards also confirmed printed cheques and cash are in steady decline. He reported cheque usage has been declining at a rate of about 16 per cent per annum, while cash transactions have fallen from 70 per cent in 2007 to 47 per cent in 2013. He adds, “More recent data on the transactions use of cash are not available, though the ongoing fall in cash withdrawals from ATMs and at the point of sale suggest that it has continued.” “In addition, the continuing strong growth of contactless transactions and the growing acceptance of cards for low-value transaction are also suggestive of a further decline in the use of cash.” Richards reports Europe and Canada have already started exploring the concept of digital currency. He says the RBA would be interested to see if the concept proves possible but admits progress in this area is still years away.  

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