Banking
SNB developing new banknote series as sees cash here to stay
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on October 30, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Jessica Weisman-Pitts
Posted on October 30, 2024
2 min readLast updated: January 29, 2026
By John Revill
BERN (Reuters) -The Swiss National Bank will develop a new banknote series, the central bank said on Wednesday, underscoring the country’s love affair with physical money despite the rise of mobile payment apps and cashless payments.
Around one in three payments in Switzerland is made with cash, the SNB said, adding it was convinced that cash will remain a widely used means of payment in future.
“It is impossible to imagine Switzerland without cash,” said SNB Chair Martin Schlegel. “Cash is and will remain a popular method of payment.
“While cards and apps are being used ever more frequently for payments, there is no question that the Swiss population continues to hold cash in high regard,” he told a press conference in Bern.
The SNB, which last launched a new range of bank notes between 2016 and 2019, said the new notes would likely be introduced in the early 2030s.
“The SNB is convinced that cash will continue to play an important role as a payment method and store of value in the future,” Schlegel said. Therefore ongoing development in terms of security technology and the redesign of the banknotes is of pivotal importance.
Cash is still used in 25.7% of transactions in Switzerland, only slightly less than debit cards (26.2%) while mobile payments are now the most popular payment method with 26.8%, according to a study by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences and the University of St Gallen.
Elsewhere the demand for paper money is declining with British consumers and businesses using cash in just 12% of transactions last year, a record low.
In the United States, a Federal Reserve survey showed cash made up 16% of payments last year, down from 31% in 2016, while a European Central Bank study found cash was still used for 59% of face-to-face transactions in the euro zone in 2022.
A competition will be held for the designs for the new notes, which will have the theme “Switzerland and its altitudes”, recognising the country’s Alpine landscape.
The draft designs will be presented to the public next year, and the winners announced in 2026.
(Reporting by John Revill; Editing by Kirsti Knolle, Alison Williams and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
A central bank is a financial institution that manages a country's currency, money supply, and interest rates. It oversees the banking system and implements monetary policy.
Cash management refers to the process of collecting, handling, and using cash in a business. It involves managing the company's liquidity and ensuring sufficient cash flow.
Mobile payments are transactions made through a mobile device, allowing users to pay for goods and services electronically, often using apps or digital wallets.
A banknote is a type of currency issued by a central bank, typically made of paper or polymer, used as a medium of exchange for goods and services.
Currency is a system of money in general use in a particular country or economic context, serving as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and a store of value.
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