Thomas Jordan: Future of cash in Switzerland is bright even as cashless payments become more important

Introductory remarks by Mr Thomas Jordan, Chairman of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the News Conference on the new 100-franc note, Berne, 3 September 2019.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

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.