World Anti-Counterfeiting Day: focus on Security Inks

Observed annually on 10 June, the World Anti-Counterfeiting Day was established in 1999. Last year, on 10 June 2025, SICPA launched a one-year awareness campaign focusing on various aspects of counterfeiting and illicit trade. Through a series of articles, SICPA has raised awareness of this issue and, as a key partner, has shown its support for the fight against counterfeiting and illicit trade, which have a global impact, by showcasing its diverse solutions and areas of expertise.  

We conclude this year's SICPA article roadshow by raising awareness of the impact of counterfeiting and illicit trade, with a focus on SICPA's core business: Security Inks.  

A reflection on why protecting banknotes is vital for trust, inclusion and stability in today's evolving payments landscape. 

Cash plays a fundamental role in everyday life. It underpins transactions across every income level and every geography, functioning as the foundation of payment systems precisely where other infrastructure is most likely to fail. It carries no dependency on connectivity, platforms or third-party infrastructure; when systems are under strain, it continues to sustain daily trade. 

That reliability depends on trust. When trust in cash is undermined, the consequences extend far beyond individual transactions; they reach economic stability, social cohesion and the populations least able to absorb the loss. 

At the centre of this system lies the banknote. Central bank currency is one of the few remaining payment instruments that belongs to no platform, no intermediary and no algorithm. It is, by design, a public good; a shared infrastructure maintained through collective institutional investment, analogous in its social function to road networks or public utilities. It therefore must be accepted instantly, by anyone, anywhere, with complete confidence in its authenticity. 

That confidence is constantly tested, most visibly through counterfeiting. The burden of a counterfeit note falls hardest on those with the fewest means to detect, dispute or recover from it: small traders, market vendors, workers in informal economies, and those who manage household finances and community savings systems as a primary economic function. Counterfeiting continues to evolve, fuelled by advances in reproduction technologies, and protecting banknotes has become an increasingly complex and continuous effort.  

Banknote security is built as a layered architecture, designed to perform at multiple levels: public recognition, professional verification, machine processing and forensic analysis. Each layer operates independently, so that a failure at one level does not compromise the others. Some features are visible and calibrated for immediate public use; others remain discreet, readable only by trained professionals or dedicated detection equipment. No single point of authentication carries the full load. 

Security inks are central to this system. Integral to the banknote's design, they perform across multiple authentication registers simultaneously: visual recognition under ambient light, spectral response under professional equipment and reliable machine detection at processing speed. A security ink that performs in a central bank sorting facility must perform equally in a rural market or a border crossing. That operational range, without variance, is what this field demands. 

Performance must also endure overtime. Banknotes circulate under demanding conditions; handled, folded, exposed to heat, humidity and the friction of high-volume daily use in open-air markets, street commerce and shared transport. Durability is therefore a prerequisite across the full distribution network. Security inks support this directly; they preserve the integrity of banknotes and keep notes functional and trustworthy throughout their operational life, wherever that life takes them.  

The role of cash itself remains singular. It functions anytime, anywhere, for everyone, without registration, without a device and without an account. In moments of crisis or infrastructure failure, it continues to operate when other systems cannot. Maintaining it requires constant innovation and close collaboration across the ecosystem. Central banks, printers and technology providers share a common objective: ensuring that banknotes remain secure, functional and trusted by everyone who depends on them. 

Within this collective effort, security inks may represent only one component, but they underpin multiple security and durability functions. 

Protecting banknotes is ultimately about protecting the trust that allows every transaction to take place, simply, instantly and everywhere. In an increasingly unstable world, that trust is a public good worth defending.