## Currency Notes

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**Canonical URL:** [Currency Notes](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2026/06/currency-notes.pdf)

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### Overview
- Article by Andreas Adriano in Finance & Development describing Switzerland’s public participation in selecting designs for a forthcoming banknote series.
- Switzerland’s direct-democracy context: its 9 million citizens are consulted about four times a year on federal issues and have up to 100 cantonal referendums.

### Design process and themes
- About 100,000 people voted online on 12 sets of designs for banknotes of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 1,000 francs.
- Proposed topic: “Switzerland and its altitudes,” highlighting geographic diversity: the Jura region, the Swiss Plateau, the lowlands, the Alpine foothills, the Alps, and the High Alps.
- The online poll was combined with analysis by an expert advisory board.
- Winning design: Emphase, a Lausanne-based studio.
  - Features scale drawings of native plants found at different altitudes on one side.
  - Reverse side features Swiss landscapes and “civilizational achievements”: Alpine vistas, cable cars, famously punctual trains, the CERN research center, and the hi-tech Monte Rosa Hut atop a 4,634-meter massif.
  - Quote: “With its precision and craftsmanship, this concept impressively articulates the diversity and quality of Switzerland,” said Sébastien Kraenzlin, alternate member of the central bank board.

### Security, schedule, and production
- The new notes will not circulate until after 2030, following more development and incorporation of security features.
- Central bank statement: “The security elements and manufacturing processes are becoming more complex.”
- Developing a new series “offers more opportunities to improve banknotes, whether in terms of security, functionality, or graphic design.”
- Switzerland replaces its banknotes every 15–20 years.
- The forthcoming series will be the bank’s 10th.

### Cash usage, denomination policy, and public attitudes
- A recent referendum enshrined access to cash in the Swiss Constitution, reinforcing the central bank’s mandate to always ensure an adequate supply of coins and notes.
- Trend in cash usage:
  - About 1 in 3 in-person transactions are made in cash.
  - Down from 70 percent in 2017.
- Popularity of digital payment: many prefer the fast payment app TWINT.
- The 1,000 franc bill:
  - Retained in the forthcoming series; Switzerland preserves the 1,000 franc bill (about $1,250), the world’s largest denomination in active circulation.
  - Most countries have discontinued large bills, citing concerns over money laundering and tax evasion; the European Central Bank stopped issuing new €500 notes in 2019.
  - According to an SNB payment methods survey, about a quarter of respondents reported owning 1,000 franc bills in the past two years, using them mostly for payments, not to store value.
  - SNB position: “The current denominations have proven themselves reliable and, from today’s perspective, should therefore be retained.”

### Key statistics and exact figures
- 9 million citizens (consulted about four times a year; up to 100 cantonal referendums).
- About 100,000 people voted online.
- 12 sets of designs considered for denomonations of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 1,000 francs.
- Monte Rosa Hut located atop a 4,634-meter massif.
- New notes will not circulate until after 2030.
- About 1 in 3 in-person transactions are made in cash; down from 70 percent in 2017.
- Switzerland replaces banknotes every 15–20 years.
- Forthcoming series is the bank’s 10th.
- 1,000 franc bill equivalent: about $1,250.
- European Central Bank stopped issuing new €500 notes in 2019.
- About a quarter of SNB survey respondents reported owning 1,000 franc bills in the past two years.

*Source: Currency Notes, Andreas Adriano, Finance & Development.*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2026/06/currency-notes.pdf_