Published on 21 August 2025

Security features

Details of the new 50-franc banknote on a computer screen. (Photo: Keystone)

Swiss banknotes are very difficult to forge. You can read about the security features of the current eighth and ninth banknote series on the website of the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

Information on euros, US dollars and other currencies is available on the following websites:

• European Central Bank (BCE)
  
• Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP)
  
• Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

The new banknotes – Design and security features

• The greatest protection

  Counterfeit money can turn up anywhere cash is used on a daily basis. If often appears at large retailers, newspaper kiosks, petrol stations or post offices.

  • Being able to identify a forgery is the best protection.
  • Briefly examine the banknotes you have been given. Forgeries are far from perfect; you can identify them with the naked eye or by feeling them.
  • Buy foreign currency in Switzerland and abroad at official currency exchange offices only.

• What to do if you suspect a forgery

  • Compare the suspect banknote with a genuine one.
  • If you still think it is a forgery, contact the nearest police station or bank.
  • If you think you know where the forgery comes from, inform the police.
     

• Links

  • Swiss Criminal Code, Art. 240 Counterfeiting money
    (CC 311.0)
  • Federal Act on Currency and Payment Instruments, Art. 11 Criminal Provisions
    (CC 941.10)
  • Internationales Abkommen zur Bekämpfung der Falschmünzerei
    (RS 0.311.51) (This document is not available in English)