New 20 Swiss franc note smaller and brighter

The Swiss National Bank unveiled the second note in its new banknote series on Wednesday. The new 20 franc note, which will be in circulation from May 17th, follows the release of the first in the series, the 50 franc note, last year.
Overall, the National Bank’s new series of banknotes is intended to reflect “the many facets of Switzerland”. The design of each note centers around a primary theme.  On the 20-franc note, this will be light. A hand, the earth and butterflies are the main motifs on the note. 
 
The new series of notes retain the same colour scheme as the previous series. Devices such as cash and ticket machines are becoming more and more compact. So banknotes have to move with the times. They are becoming shorter and narrower. They are also easier to store in a wallet and consequently suffer less damage. The 20-franc note is actually only slightly shorter – down from 137 millimeters to 130. By contrast, the new thousand-franc note is considerably smaller. Previously coming in at 181 millimeters, it is now just 158 mm long.
 
They also feature state-of-the-art anti-counterfeiting protection including design features that can only be seen under a microscope or using UV light.
 
According to the National Bank, the 10-franc note is due to appear in autumn 2017. However, there have already been major delays. The 50-franc note only went into circulation some five-and- a-half years later than planned; the delay was due to technical problems with the security paper. All of the banknotes are scheduled to be rolled out by 2019.