The Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has launched a new mobile application called BEAC NG2020 to help the public and financial professionals authenticate BEAC banknotes from the Type 2020 series.

Created in 1972, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) is the central bank common to the six States that make up the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC). These are Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Their currency is the Central African CFA franc (FCFA).

The application, which  aims to strengthen measures against counterfeiting, is available for free on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

It allows users with Android and iOS phones to verify the authenticity of the 2020 series banknotes they hold or receive. Users can compare the security features illustrated in the application with those on the physical banknotes.

The illustrated features include watermarks, incomplete motifs, serial numbers, security threads, and impressions perceptible to the touch. The app also shows how to authenticate notes by tilting them to observe the dynamic 3D motifs and by placing them under a UV lamp to see specific fluorescent features.

BEAC, which announced the launch of BEAC NG2020 last week,  is encouraging the public and professionals to make extensive use of this new application as part of a broader set of measures to ensure confidence in the currency it issues.

Counterfeiting is apparently still a problem in the region despite reinforced BEAC measures introduced in November 2022 that included a new series of FCFA notes with modern security elements.

Agence Ecofin reports that, as recently as January this year, the Cameroon police seized 32 million FCFA in counterfeit banknotes in Maroua, and nearly 100 million FCFA were confiscated in Douala, during an anti-counterfeiting operation.