ESTA's provisional programme for the conference:

Register for the ESTA Annual Conference, Marseille, France 2-4 June, 2013, and be sure to book your hotel early as rooms are limited.

The on-line registration is open on the ESTA website, and there is access to the hotel booking site on our Events page.

Crisis: Cash is meeting the Challenge

Day 1 Our Environment and how it shapes the business

Welcome address by Keynote speaker: Mrs Ballestrazzi, Deputy Director of the French Judicial Police and President of Interpol.

Antti Heinonen, Former Director Banknotes, European Central Bank and Mike Bowen, Director of Oxford Currency Consulting will moderate the sessions of the first day.

Regulation in Europe

ECB Roadmap and News: Ton Roos, European Central Bank Director Banknotes
EC updated developments: Rüdiger Voss, Head of Section 'Eurocash and Legal Issues', European Commission, DG ECFIN
Banque de France update: Gilles Vaysset, Deputy Director of Fiduciary activities

The True Cost of Cash

Panel discussion on costing cash:

Heiko Schmeidel, Principle Market Infrastructure Expert, author, ECB study, “The Social and Private Costs of Retail Payment Instruments – A European Perspective”
"The cash in the French payment system", study presented by Nathalie Costa, Professor of economics, European Business School, Paris and Sébastien Lemeunier, Professor of finance, European Business School, Paris
"Cards are cheaper than cash - fact or fiction?" Gerard Thornton, Partner at Occam Associates, Sweden
Lenore Machado, Chairwoman of EPC Cash Group, offers the Banks' reactions to these studies

Global Crises: Lessons learned for thriving and surviving

Sweden, post-Panaxia presented by Christina Wejshammar, Head of Division, National Bank of Sweden
US, post-Sandy

Day 2 Security: the risk we face and our results

Tony Smillie, Chair of ESTA security risk and management working group will moderate the sessions of the second day.

Security: National Angles

Country Studies and updates this year are:

France: Jean-Louis Blanchou, Prefect to the Inter-Ministerial Delegation for Private Security
USA: Mark Lowers, President and CEO of Lowers & Associates, speaking for NACA, the National Armoured Car Association
Russia
Brazil

Insurance Updates

Philip Turner, Managing Director of Marsh, presents insurance issues for the CIT community

Crime: The Outlook and the Stakes

Panel Discussion: Cross-border Crime Perspectives, Chaired by Xavier Raufer, Director, Research Department on Contemporary Criminal Threats, University Paris II. Participating in the debate are:

François Farcy, Director of the Belgian Federal Judicial Police
Bernard Petit, Deputy Director Organized and Financial Crime, Ministry of the Interior, France
Michel Quillé, Deputy Director of Europol

Attack and Loss

ESTA 2012 Attack and Loss Report presented by Tony Smillie, Chair of ESTA security risk and management working group.

European Central Bank News

Cash in circulation (ECB)

The latest information published by the European Central Bank shows that cash continues to grow.

The total number of Euro banknotes in circulation in 2012 stood at 15,687 million, with a value of €912.6 billion. The total number in 2011 stood at 14,948 million, with a value of €888.6 billion. Viewed between 2011 and 2012, there was an increase of 4.9% in volume and a 2.7% in value.

The total number of Euro coins in circulation in 2012 stood at 102,032 million, with a value of €23,658 million. The total number of Euro coins in 2011 stood at 97,760 million, with a value of €23,073 million. Viewed between 2011 and 2012, there was an increase of 4.3% in volume and a 2.5% in value.

The trend shows a steady increase of Euro cash in circulation since 2011.

Click on graph to access detailed info on low and high denomination banknotes and coins.

Source ECB

New Europa €5 launched - 10 January 2013 - Eurosystem unveils the Europa series €5 banknote

The Europa series €5 banknote was unveiled by ECB President Mario Draghi on 10 January 2013. The Europa series has a refreshed design as well as enhanced security features. The new €5 note will be introduced in the euro area on 2 May 2013. The new series has the same “ages and styles” design and dominant colours as the first series. The other denominations, €10, €20, €50, €100, €200 and €500, will be introduced over the next few years, in ascending order.

ESTA members are strongly encouraged to contact their respective National Central Banks for directions regarding dual circulation and handling of “old” €5.
www.ecb.int/euro/banknotes/europa/html/index.en.html

Euro Counterfeiting

In the second half of 2012 a total of 280,000 counterfeit euro banknotes were withdrawn from circulation. This means that the overall quantity of counterfeits withdrawn from circulation in 2012 was 12.4% lower compared with the figures for 2011. At the same time, there was an increase of 11.6% in the quantity recovered in the second half of 2012 compared with the previous six months.

When compared with the number of genuine euro banknotes in circulation (on average 14.9 billion during the second half of 2012), the proportion of counterfeits remains very low.

The table below shows provides a percentage breakdown, by denomination, of the total number of counterfeits withdrawn from circulation in the second half of 2012.

The €20 and €50 denominations continue to be the most counterfeited. During the past six months, the share of counterfeit €20 banknotes remained the same and the share of counterfeit €50 banknotes increased. The two most counterfeited denominations together accounted for 82.5% of the total during the second half of 2012. The €100 banknote is the third most counterfeited denomination, accounting for 13.0% of the total. The share of the other denominations (€5, €10, €200 and €500) is very low.

The majority (97.5%) of counterfeits recovered in the second half of 2012 were found in euro area countries, with only around 2% being found in EU Member States outside the euro area and 0.5% being found in other parts of the world.
www.ecb.int/press/pr/date/2013/html/pr130110_2.en.html

In the news

Older and Disabled Consumers need better access to cash

The UK Payments Council has published a report on their website about disabled and older consumers and their experiences using payment systems. the study identified the need for easier access to cash as a significant gap in service provision by banks. Barriers to cash access include PIN and identification numbers, and requirements for dexterity and memory with ATMs.

The aim of the study is to understand the specific barriers and constraints regarding payment services that the disabled and very elderly face, and their coping strategies. Critical unmet needs include a limited payment delegation facility without compromising account holders' privacy, as well as a means of enabling limited and flexible sharing of access and control with trusted parties which stops short of ceding total responsibility.

See the UK Payments Council website for the full report.

ID theft drives rise in UK fraud cases - Cifas

The number of recorded fraud cases in the UK rose five per cent last year, to nearly 250,000, according to Cifas, with identity theft accounting for more than half of all incidences. The fraud prevention service says its members identified 248,325 cases in 2012, 150,000 of which had an identifiable victim.

In total, 123,589 of the cases involved the fraudulent use of identity details (either those of an innocent victim or completely fictitious ones), a nine per cent increase on 2011.

Furthermore, facility takeover fraud - where a crook gains access to and hijacks the running of an account - rocketed by 53%. This means that those frauds where the criminal requires identity details accounted for 65% of all cases in 2012.
In contrast, fraud carried out by actual account holders fell 15% to just under 46,000. A large chunk of these cases appear to be people acting as money mules for criminals.

Peter Hurst, chief executive, Cifas, says "it is time for all organisations and consumers to start reviewing their approaches to preventing fraud rather than just dealing with its effects. Investment in proper fraud prevention systems and approaches, from online security to data sharing, and education are the cornerstones of such an approach and - without them - the only thing that is guaranteed is an ever increasing fraud losses to organisations and society at large."
www.finextra.com/news/FullStory.aspx?newsitemid=24454
www.cifas.org.uk/

RBR Report on Bank Branches: they are key to success but must evolve with the times

“Branch Banking II: Case studies for the next generation” shows that the continuing strategic role of the branch is being recognised by many banks across the world. The branch is coming under increasing pressure to reduce costs, yet be attractive and profitable at the same time. To this end, the banks are continuing to invest in renewing the branch, in order that its effectiveness be maximized.

The RBR, a strategic research and consulting firm, shows how the retail branch remains the key channel in the banking delivery mix. Generally banks operate a universal customer strategy – where all branches are aimed at all customers. In the study, RBR highlighted examples of banks which are implementing a more segmented approach. A bank in Bulgaria, UniCredit Bulbank, for example, is targeting women clients with separate zones for women and even some dedicated branches just for women. DBS and OCBC in Singapore both are trying to attract younger generations who are critical of standard bank branches and their approach.
Source RBR London

Automated deposit ATMs becoming standard in many markets

Automated deposit terminal (ADT) installations have shown an increase of 45% compared to 2009. There were 670, 000 of these terminals installed around the world by December 2011. Non-deposit ATMs grew by only 14% over the same period. Another report by RBR, “Deposit Automation and Recycling 2012”, shows that even though the banks are struggling with budget cut-backs as a result of the global financial crisis, they are still keen to invest in deposit automation. These ADTs are becoming standard in many markets, including China and Russia, which make up half of the new installations between 2009 and 2011.

Worldwide, automated deposit ATMs now outnumber envelope deposit ATMs, by almost two to one. However, the USA, Brazil, India, the UK, Spain and France still have more envelope deposit units.
Source RBR London

Upcoming Conferences

COESS 4th European Summit on Private Security Services, 14-15 March, Madrid
ECB ES2 Conference 22-23 April, Vienna
ESTA Annual Conference 2-4 June, Marseille
5th Euroforum conference on cash cycle management, 19-20 June, Mainz, Germany