Does a QR code make currency accessible?

After I wrote a post about accessible currency, I got an interesting question from Dean Parr, Numismatist about what I thought about using a QR code on a currency. The example was the Russian 100 Ruble, which is a circulation commemorative. If you are not familiar with the concept, briefly a QR code is a code that can be converted into human readable information. It is mostly used to direct people to web sites for more information. The user scans the QR code with a cell phone, which automatically opens a web site. The concept was invented in 1994. For more information, read the Wikipedia article.

The 100 Ruble banknote contains a QR code which can be scanned with a phone and it opens a web page about the banknote. The banknote also uses raised print to help people with visual impairment to identify it. So, the question is, could this technology be used to make currency accessible? The short answer is yes, but there are a few considerations.

As I wrote about it earlier, when using technology to make currency accessible, it requires a hardware or software solution, such as a stand-alone device, or a mobile phone, which maybe beyond the reach of many people, especially in developing countries. In Russia, where mobile devices are readily available, using QR codes can be a solution for accessibility. For that matter, as long as people have a phone capable of reading QR codes they can already identify the 100 Ruble using it. For more information, read my previous article on how blind people identify paper money.

There is one problem with using a QR code as a currency identification method compared to algorithm based software solutions. The user first has to find the code to point the phone at it. For that matter, if not all notes have a QR code, the blind user will go through a process of trial and error to find out if a particular note has a QR code, assuming that they are pointing exactly on the code. When using a software based system, it is able to determine which area of the banknote the phone points to, and based on that area of the currency image identify which banknote it is. So, theoretically, when holding up a large enough fraction of a bank note to the phone, it is able to tell which banknote it is.

Another problem with QR codes is that it doesn’t tell the user if the note is fake or genuine, though money identifier devices for the blind in general do not conduct a counterfeit recognition. There are devices which are able to do it, but they are usually not pocket size, as they need a better processing power, and they are used in automated transactions, for example Vending machines. The job of a money identifier device is not to make the counterfeit determination, so from that perspective a QR code is not any worse or better than other solutions.

I did a little research about currency with QR codes, and I found both coins and banknotes. On Numista, I found coins with QR code in their description. However, what appears to be the oldest one is from the Netherlands, and it was referenced in the December 11, 2011 E-Sylum, where it is claimed to be the first coin with a QR code. I could not find anything earlier than that. There are also banknotes with QR codes, on currencies from Sweden, Ghana and Nigeria. There is also an invention to use a QR code against counterfeit currency, but this method cannot be recognized using a mobile phone, so it is not improving the level of accessibility.

My next question was, if this is so simple, why won’t national banks just use QR codes to help blind people recognize currency. If a banknote could contain a QR code on both sides, one could hold a phone over the banknote far enough that it captures the entire note, thus finding the QR code. With this solution, the US, for example, wouldn’t have to make a drastic change to banknotes to make it more accessible. It appears that I found the answer in Hans de Heij’s book, The Banknote Designer and the Banknote Design Manager, which is downloadable free of charge from the Dutch National Bank. In his 2017 book, he claims that many central banks are technologically behind the current trends, and they do not yet have the technology, or for that matter, the interest to easily add QR codes to banknotes.