The Future is Polymer
14th, 21st, 27th October & 4th November
Venue: Online
With the world undergoing changes that are driven by technology, climate, demographics, the global economy and, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the perfect time to take stock of the role that polymer plays in the cash cycle. What strategies need to be adopted to ensure that people continue to have access to cash systems that are stronger, safer, cleaner, and greener?
In a series of weekly seminars hosted by CCL Secure, leading names from banking and academia share their ideas based on the latest empirical evidence.
Join us online at any or all of these important opportunities to discuss the future of cash and the strategies that will play a key role in how cash is perceived and used. Once you’ve registered, you’ll have access to both the live events and a video recording of each session for future reference.
THE SEMINARS
Day One | Wednesday 14th October | 50 minutes (inc. 10 minute Q&A)
UK: 8am
STRONGER: What is the future for cash?
Now, more than ever, Central Banks and Governments hit by the COVID-19 crisis will need to focus on the cost and procurement of banknotes. The durability and strength of polymer banknotes leads to big savings. In the first of four seminars we looked at the cost benefits of moving to polymer banknotes from paper. Melissa Hope from the Reserve Bank of Australia will share research that shows a saving of over $1 billion since its move to GuardianTM polymer. The session explored how the process was managed, obstacles along the way, and key learnings from a 30 year journey.
Host: Neil Sanders
Day Two | Wednesday 21st October | 50 minutes (inc. 10 minute Q&A)
UK: 8am
CLEANER: How safe are your banknotes?
For cash to survive, the general public need to be reassured that it is safe to use. During the COVID-19 crisis, false news stories claimed that banknotes were spreading the virus. What do we need to do to demonstrate the credibility of cash when faced with this and other myths? In this session we took a scientific approach, as we were joined by Professor Frank Vriesekoop, of Harper Adams University, who summarised academic research on cash and how germs, bacteria and viruses affect cash.
Host: Dr. Tim Berridge
Day Three | Tuesday 27th October | 50 minutes (inc. 10 minute Q&A)
UK: 2pm
GREENER: How green are banknotes?
Despite COVID-19 dominating the headlines in 2020 so far, climate change is still the dominant issue of our times. Indeed, the recent COVID-19 -inspired lockdown saw a noticeable improvement in air quality in many places around the world, adding to the focus on environmental topics. In this session we explored the sometimes counter-intuitive environmental benefits of adopting polymer banknotes instead of paper. As consumers become increasingly aware, and interested in how their product purchases impact the environment, how should organisations track and measure the environmental cost of their operations? Our guest speaker, Christoph Koffler of Sphera, looked at how sustainability is measured. Sphera is the largest global provider of integrated risk management software, information and consulting services focused on Environmental, Health Safety and Sustainability.
Host: Lachlan McDonald
Day Four | Wednesday 4th November | 50 minutes (inc. 10 minute Q&A)
UK: 3pm
SAFER: How do new banknotes gain trust?
A core function of banknotes is that they need to be trusted by the public and function effectively in the cash cycle. Even in a “less cash” world the need for secure banknotes remains. Polymer banknotes are proven to delivery to security. In our final session, we explored the experience of Central Banks around the world and the benefits in counterfeit reduction they have achieved by transitioning to polymer. We were joined by banknote veteran Andy Ward, who provided insight into the experiences of both the Bank of Canada and Bank of England in exploiting features that are only available with polymer to reduce the risk of counterfeiting.
Host: Andrew Bonnell
About the Speakers
Day 1
Neil Sanders, Vice President and Managing Director, CCL Secure
Neil Sanders has been Vice President and Managing Director of CCL Secure since April 2019. Neil oversees CCL Secure globally, and is responsible for all aspects of the business including manufacturing, sales and R&D, across its three production facilities located in Australia, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Neil started his career at the Bank of England Printing Works, before joining De La Rue in 2003 and then moving to Melbourne and Note Printing Australia in 2005. In 2017, he joined CCL Secure and moved back to the UK to head up the manufacturing facility based in Wigton, Cumbria, before returning to Melbourne once again to take up his current role.
Neil holds a Bachelor of Science Hons Chemistry degree from the University of Nottingham as well as a number of other postgraduate qualifications.With over 20 years’ experience in the currency industry Neil has held a variety of technical, operational and senior management roles. During this time, he has played a key role in the development and production of new banknotes across the world and has extensive experience in the ink, substrate and banknote manufacturing fields.
Melissa Hope, Reserve Bank of Australia
Melissa has been working at the Reserve Bank for more than 25 years in a variety of departments including Economic Group, Financial Stability, Finance and Human Resources as well as having been on secondment to the Bank of England.
Melissa is now the Head of Note Issue at the Bank where she oversees all aspects of the banknote lifecycle, including the Next Generation Banknote program that has culminated in the new banknote series and the building and operationalisation of the Bank’s new storage, processing and distribution site.
Day 2
Tim Berridge, Director of R & D, Marketing and Design, CCL Secure
Tim Berridge joined CCL Secure October 2016. In his role as Director R&D, Marketing and Design. Tim is responsible for CCL Secure product and R&D strategy as well the substrate and banknote design functions. He has a particular focus on understanding the customer and market needs to guide R&D activities and drive design innovation.
Tim has over 20 years’ experience within the banknote and security industry across a range of roles, including R&D, intellectual property and product marketing. During this time, he has acquired a detailed knowledge of the currency market and banknote design and production. He has worked on a wide range of innovation projects, including security features, and polymer substrate.
Tim holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham, and a Bachelor of Science (First Class Hons) from University of London.
Professor Frank Vriesekoop, Harper Adams University
Professor Frank Vriesekoop is a Food Biotechnologist from Harper Adams University in the United Kingdom with a research interest in hygiene and food safety as well as industrial food biotechnology and issues related to sustainable food production. Born and bred in the Netherlands, Frank moved to Australia where he started his academic career in microbiology.
Frank’s research career spans 25 years with 100+ academic publications and global collaborations on a wide range of countries: Australia, UK, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Netherlands, France, Spain, Ireland, Italy, Romania, China, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria.
Day 3
Lachlan McDonald, Technical Services Manager EMEAC, CCL Secure
Lachlan McDonald has over 25 years of international experience in banknote substrate and print. Over this time Lachlan has worked for Portals Ltd, De La Rue Currency, and for the past 14 years CCL Secure. Lachlan is currently on the regional management team responsible for CCL Secure’s technical support in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Canada.
Lachlan McDonald holds a Bachelor in Chemistry from University College London, and is also a business graduate from the University of Melbourne. He currently lives in Zurich Switzerland.
Christoph Koffler, PhD – Technical Director Americas, Sustainability Consulting
Chris Koffler is the Technical Director for the Americas of Sphera’s Sustainability Consulting practice. In this role he is responsible for the quality of all sustainability consulting projects, methodological development, project oversight, and is the primary lead in key selected areas, such as the automotive sector.
Chris received his Doctorate in Engineering from the Darmstadt University of Technology in 2007. His PhD work was on Automotive Product Life Cycle Assessment. He has published numerous papers in the field of Life Cycle Assessment and frequently provides his expertise in peer and critical reviews.
Chris is the current Chair of the Joint SETAC/ACLCA LCA Interest Group Steering Committee and a member of the American Center for Life Cycle Assessment (ACLCA) Board of Directors. He has represented the U.S. in the development of various LCA-related ISO standards in the past and has taught Product Life Cycle Assessment at Yale’s School of the Environment and the Harvard Extension School.
Day 4
Andrew Bonnell, Vice President Sales EMEAC, CCL Secure
Andrew Bonnell began his experience in the security industry overseeing General Motor’s Brand Protection Strategy for the Asia-Pacific region while based in Shanghai. He progressed from brand protection strategy, to security technologies for high-security printing and into the arena of banknote substrates and technologies.
Andrew leads the CCL Secure teams working with Central Banks operating across a vast range of circulating conditions in Europe, Middle East and Africa including the Bank of Egypt, Bank of England, Bank of Mauritania, and Bank of Canada.
In the banknote industry, Andrew worked first with both paper and composite banknotes before making the move to polymer with CCL Secure in 2013. A native of Montreal, Canada, and he holds a DEC in Applied Sciences and an MBA in Finance and Strategic Planning.
Andy Ward
Andy Ward is a well-known expert in banknote design and manufacture who has recently retired from the Bank of England where he led the banknote development team for the polymer series from the £5 to the £50. This role allowed a return to England after 12 years at the Bank of Canada, first in a design capacity, and then as Program Manager, for the successful launch of the Bank of Canada Frontier Series (the first Guardian polymer banknotes launched by the Bank of Canada).
Andy, a skilled artist, started his career as a Banknote Designer for the Bank of England in 1982 working his way up to Chief Designer and Banknote Origination Manager before taking on the key project management roles at the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England. His broad experience has also been used in consulting and design roles with Central Banks and banknotes including those of Armenia, Chile and the European Central Bank. Few people in the industry have his breadth of experience in design and manufacture of banknotes and particularly polymer banknotes.