QR Codes Printed on Banknotes - Examples From Around the World and the Front Line of Anti-Counterfeiting
Countries That Have Printed QR Codes on Banknotes
The idea of printing QR codes on currency may seem eccentric at first glance, but it has already been put into practice in several countries.
In December 2014, Nigeria issued a 100-naira commemorative banknote marking the 100th anniversary of its formation as a nation, becoming the first in the world to incorporate a QR code into a banknote design. At the time of issue, scanning it connected you to a commemorative site introducing Nigeria's 100-year history, and building a path to commemorative content into a banknote, on top of its function as currency, was groundbreaking.
China's digital yuan (e-CNY) is not a banknote itself, but QR codes are printed on physical card-type wallets, and payment is completed by scanning them. The combination of central bank digital currency (CBDC) and QR codes is drawing attention as a new form of currency that blurs the line between cash and digital payments.
The Potential of QR Codes as an Anti-Counterfeiting Technology
Preventing banknote counterfeiting is an eternal challenge for central banks. Banknotes incorporate dozens of anti-counterfeiting technologies, such as watermarks, holograms, microprinting, color-shifting ink, and security threads, but with the spread of high-performance printers, the barrier to counterfeiting is falling year by year.
QR codes add a new layer called "digital authentication" to these physical anti-counterfeiting technologies. A system in which scanning the QR code on a banknote connects to the central bank's server to verify the authenticity of the serial number makes possible real-time authentication that physical anti-counterfeiting technologies alone cannot achieve.
In addition, methods that store an encrypted digital signature in the QR code so that authenticity can be checked even offline are also being researched. In this system, data signed with the central bank's private key is embedded in the QR code, and a smartphone app verifies it with the public key. Because authentication is possible without an internet connection, it can be used even in regions where communications infrastructure is fragile.
The Risk of the QR Code Itself Being Counterfeited
The biggest weakness of using QR codes for anti-counterfeiting is that the QR code itself can easily be copied. If someone scans the QR code of a genuine banknote at high resolution and prints it on a counterfeit note, the QR code authentication will pass.
The countermeasure to this problem is to position the QR code not as a "standalone means of authentication" but as "a combination with other anti-counterfeiting technologies." With a method that checks whether the serial number in the QR code matches the physical serial number printed on the banknote, counterfeiting will not succeed even if only the QR code is copied.
Techniques are also used that print the QR code with special inks (ink that glows under ultraviolet light, ink that changes color with temperature, and so on), making physical counterfeiting of the QR code itself difficult. The basic strategy of currency security is to build a defensive wall that no single technology can break through by combining digital and analog anti-counterfeiting technologies in multiple layers.
QR Code Banknotes as Collector's Items
Banknotes with QR codes are attracting attention among currency collectors. In the history of currency, the moment a new technical element is first introduced into banknotes tends to raise their value as collector's items. Just like the first banknotes to introduce watermarks and the first banknotes to adopt holograms, the first banknotes printed with QR codes may come to have scarcity value in the future.
The 100-naira banknote that Nigeria issued in 2014 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of its formation as a nation is a particularly noted item among currency collectors as the world's first banknote to incorporate a QR code. The title "world's first QR code banknote" is a powerful added value in the world of currency collecting.
The Digitalization of Currency and the Future of QR Codes
About 90% of the world's central banks are said to have begun research / development of CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) (BIS survey). If CBDCs spread, the role of physical banknotes will shrink, but they are unlikely to disappear completely for the time being. That is because the social functions that cash fulfills, in the face of communication outages during disasters, the digital literacy of older people, privacy concerns, and so on, remain large.
In this transitional period, QR codes occupy a unique position as a technology that bridges physical currency and digital currency. Scanning the QR code on a banknote to deposit money into a digital wallet, or physically distributing a digital currency balance as a voucher with a QR code. Hybrid operations like these act as a lubricant that smooths the transition from a cash society to a digital society.