news conference on new banknotes berne, 3 september 2019 thomas jordan introductory remarks by thomas jordan ladies and gentlemen i too welcome you warmly to this presentation of the new 100 - franc note. the issuance of this final note brings the ninth banknote series – an important and complex project – to a close. over the next few minutes i ’ d like to look back at some of our experiences, review the results and, finally, make a few observations about the future of cash. work on the new banknote series began over 14 years ago. on 2 february 2005, the snb published a press release announcing that it was preparing a new series inspired by the overarching theme ‘ switzerland open to the world ’. in november 2005, the results of the design competition were presented to the public, and at the beginning of 2007, the snb tasked manuela pfrunder with carrying out the graphic design work. this decision marked the beginning of a 10 - year adventure. the development of the new banknotes was shaped by stringent quality standards on both the design and production fronts. throughout the process, dialogue and exchange were required between all the involved parties to ensure that these standards were met. thanks to this team effort, the ninth series – culminating in the last denomination, the 100 - franc note – is now complete. an ambitious start … in 2005, we started with the ambition of creating a banknote series that was highly innovative across the board : - we wanted to achieve significant technological advances in terms of both materials and printing. - at the same time, we wanted to break new ground in the designs. we wished to move away from individual personalities or achievements and depict an overarching theme instead. page 1 / 4 berne, 3 september 2019 thomas jordan news conference on new banknotes - and finally, we wanted to reduce the size of the notes. this would make them fit more easily into people ’ s wallets, as well as rendering them more suitable for machine processing. - we did not, however, make any changes to the denominations and consciously retained the tried - and - trusted colour palette. … and the associated challenges this set of requirements pushed the limits of what was technologically possible. we at the snb and our partners had to jointly overcome a succession of challenges. the most important difference between the eighth and ninth banknote series is in the materials used. thanks to the new substrate durasafe, we were able to integrate new and complex

ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the snb, thank you for all the work you do. we broke new ground with respect to informing the public as well, introducing ‘ swiss banknotes ’ – an augmented reality app with which users can explore the new series. we are page 3 / 4 berne, 3 september 2019 thomas jordan news conference on new banknotes convinced that this innovation has helped to make the design and security features of the banknotes more accessible, especially to younger generations. so what happens to the eighth - series notes now? the old banknotes remain legal tender until further notice and can thus continue to be used for making payments. the snb plans to announce the recall date for the eighth - series notes in the course of 2020. from the recall date onwards, the old notes lose their status as legal tender and can then only be exchanged at the snb or one of our agencies. the future of cash in the digital age i would like to finish by looking to the future. the digital transformation taking place in our economy is also affecting developments in the payments arena. as part of its statutory mandate, the snb must not only ensure the supply and distribution of cash but also facilitate and secure the operation of cashless payment systems. a well - functioning payment system is critical for our economy. technological progress is also changing customers ’ expectations and needs in terms of cashless payments – for instance as regards speed and user - friendliness. in this area too, the snb is a participant in innovation. specifically, we are ensuring that swiss interbank clearing ( sic ) – our country ’ s powerful infrastructure for transacting cashless payments in swiss francs – continues to work quickly and efficiently and thus remains as attractive as possible. promoting and ensuring both the supply of cash and the smooth functioning of cashless payments is no contradiction. the various payment methods satisfy the differing needs of our population. our latest survey on payment methods, published in may 2018, showed that the public ’ s use of – and affinity for – cash remains high. it also confirmed that the swiss population like to be given the choice between paying cashless or paying with notes and coins. banknote circulation in our country has increased steadily in recent years. cash is used and valued for a variety of reasons, and not just out of habit or reluctance to adopt new technology. cash can be used everywhere and is less dependent on technical infrastructure. cashless payments are likely to become more important over time. i am nevertheless