--- title: "Victoria Cleland: Speech at the Intergraf Currency & Identity Conference, Demark (to be published at 8.50am)" description: "Cleland's Intergraf speech is a narrow operational update on the Bank's banknote franchise: availability, counterfeit resilience, and the design of the next…" source: Helious canonical: "https://helious.io/news/8ef1fff0ad062b8200bebb414d78cfe8/victoria-cleland-speech-at-the-intergraf-currency-identity" --- Boe 15 Oct 2026, 07:50 UTC # Victoria Cleland: Speech at the Intergraf Currency & Identity Conference, Demark (to be published at 8.50am) ## SPEECH DIGEST NEUTRAL high confidence · 12.6k characters read Cleland's Intergraf speech is a narrow operational update on the Bank's banknote franchise: availability, counterfeit resilience, and the design of the next Series H. It reports cash at 8% of UK transactions in 2025 against 45% a decade earlier, with Bank of England notes in circulation up to £91.5 billion at end February 2026. There is no reference to Bank Rate, inflation, the economy, or the policy stance anywhere in the text. Nothing here for the front end or the curve. **What’s new: **Nothing material for rates. This is a banknote and cash-infrastructure speech with zero monetary policy content. The only data of note are two payments-structure figures: cash share of transactions and the value of notes in circulation. Both are structural, slow-moving, and carry no signal on the policy path. ### KEY FINDINGS - The document contains no discussion of Bank Rate, inflation, or the monetary policy outlook; it is confined to banknote issuance, counterfeit resilience, cash access and public consultation on the next series. No rates signal of any kind, so there is no read-through for the front end or the curve. - Cash accounted for 8% of all UK transactions in 2025, down from 45% a decade earlier, while the value of Bank of England notes in circulation rose to £91.5 billion at the end of February 2026. The split between falling transactional cash and rising hoarding demand is a structural payments theme, not a policy input. - The Bank is designing a new Series H of banknotes driven by counterfeit resilience, following two public consultations on imagery. Pure operational content with no bearing on financial conditions or policy expectations. - The Bank signals a quieter communications period on the next series while design work continues, with the first denomination to be unveiled later. Timing detail only; no market consequence. ### FROM THE DOCUMENT The use of cash for transactions has declined over recent years, accounting for 8% of all transactions in the UK in 2025, down from 45% a decade earlier. But according to our research, cash is still the preferred payment method for one in seven people and, is used at least once a week by almost a quarter of the public. And the value of Bank of England notes in circulation has continued to increase, reaching £91.5 billion at the end of February 2026. There will now be a quieter period in our communications about the next series, while our design work continues in the background, with security at its heart. Text to be published on Thursday 15 October at 8.50am Trust is essential to everything the Bank of England (the Bank) does. It underpins all our activities, from setting Bank Rate to operating payment settlement systems and much in between. And banknotes are among the most visible manifestations of that trust. The Bank is the second oldest central bank in the world and issuing banknotes (originally promissory notes) was one of its earliest functions. Historically, confidence in banknotes was linked to their convertibility into gold. You can still see the words ‘I promise to pay the bearer on demand’ on our banknotes. While the nature of that promise has evolved over time and our notes are now indirectly backed by UK government bonds, 1 the principle remains the same: banknotes derive their value from trust, and that trust must be maintained. Every time someone accepts a banknote, they trust that it is authentic and worth the value stated. [ Read the full Bank of England speech at the source →](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/speech/2026/october/victoria-cleland-intergraf-currency-identity-conference-demark) Copy link [Follow this live in the terminal →](https://helious.io/)