UK - Demand for Banknotes Lowest in 20 Years
Banknote maker De La Rue has said that demand for banknotes around the world is at its lowest level in 20 years.
The company, which designs a third of banknotes globally, said demand for cash had fallen since the pandemic when central banks stocked up on currency.
“The demand for banknotes has been at the lowest levels for over 20 years, resulting in a low order book going into fiscal year 2024,” De La Rue said in a trading update.
It comes as consumer use of cash is in decline in many countries as more transactions are made online or with cards, and particularly contactless payments.
De La Rue employs 1,800 people globally and works with 140 countries.
The scene inside the De La Rue banknote printing hall is a mixture of the mundane and the surreal.
The factory floor feels very familiar with hi-tech machinery, pallet carriers and staff that appear typical of many production centers.
But the “product,” as it is called, turns your head. Millions of banknotes, in various stages of production, are here. Obviously, the security is extremely tight.
-www.bbc.com, 12 April 2023
Arno's Commentary
For decades, we have heard and read about the coming cashless society. In actuality, the printed paper we call cash is in reality not. For example, on British currency we read, “Bank of England … I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds.” It means when you present the 10-pound note to the Bank of England, they in turn will add 10 pounds to your account, or just give you another 10-pound note. The same goes for virtually all currencies the world over. Credit, debit, and other methods of transmitting or receiving payments are just as cashless. Money is transferred by numbers electronically from party A to party B.
What is the future of money? Revelation 13:17 declares: “And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
