2019-03-11 Mon

The Swiss National Bank is going circulate new 1,000 franc banknotes with advanced security features from 13th March. Designs are based on the theme communication featuring a handshake and Switzerland’s parliament.

Several experts believe that high denomination banknotes are used mainly for illegal activities. The European Central Bank has also stopped issuing 500-euro banknotes recently due to this reason. However, Swiss bank officials say that high denomination banknotes are commonly used for normal transactions in their country. Several other European countries and institutions are relying on digital payment mediums today. Switzerland, on the other hand, still depends a lot on banknotes which led to an increase in banknote circulation.

A printer named Orell Fuessli from Zurich prints banknotes for Switzerland. The company is celebrating its 500th anniversary in 2019. In 1938, 1,000 francs banknotes were introduced as a part of the SNB’s fourth banknote series. As per a 2017 survey, 40 per cent of the people owned a 1,000 franc note in the last one or two years while 60 per cent of the people owned 200 franc bills. People from the Ticino region use high denomination banknotes more frequently.

Image Courtesy: The Swiss National Bank