At a time when established electronic payment methods are increasingly dominating everyday transactions—and with new digital payment options such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) emerging—the Swiss National Bank is pushing ahead with its «New Banknote Series Project» for many good reasons.

On Wednesday, it published the designs for the new series and launched a survey allowing the public to rate them. In February, the SNB selected twelve teams or individuals (names published) from over 300 applications submitted in response to its design competition. These selected entrants had until the end of July to submit their proposals (as previously reported by finews.com).

 Will the New 200-Franc Note Look Like This? Design according to «Concept J». (Image: SNB)

These twelve designs are now available (anonymized) on the dedicated SNB website. As promised at the end of October 2024, for the first time ever the public can share their views on them. The online survey, conducted by polling institute Demoscope on behalf of the SNB, is open from now until September 7, 2025.

The SNB plans a two-stage process: in the first round, the designs will be evaluated by the public as well as by an advisory board of external experts. The six best designs will then advance to the second round, which will focus on «potential collaboration and commercial aspects.»

According to the competition rules, the evaluation of the six remaining concepts will consist of the scores from the first stage (60 percent) combined with the assessment of the proposals and the evaluation of their suitability for collaboration in the second stage (40 percent).

The winner of the design competition is expected to be selected and announced at the beginning of 2026.

Based on past experience with the development of the current banknotes in circulation, the path from the winning design to the printing of the new notes can be quite long. The appearance and design may change significantly along the way.

Design for the New 100-Franc Note According to «Concept F». (Image: SNB)

The SNB expects the new banknotes to enter circulation no earlier than the early 2030s. The theme for the new (tenth) banknote series has already been set: «Switzerland and Its Altitudes,» focusing on the topography of the currency area.

The denominations will directly reference different altitude zones: the high Alps for the 1,000-franc note, followed by the mountains (200), the Pre-Alps (100), the Jura (50), the Swiss Plateau (20), and the lowlands (10).