Central Africa launches a mobile app to stop fake money

By Amindeh Blaise Atabong, Freelance Investigative Journalist
Johannesburg, 01 Aug 2025
The Bank of Central African States launched a new mobile application to assist in verifying the validity of banknotes.
The Bank of Central African States launched a new mobile application to assist in verifying the validity of banknotes.

In an effort to combat counterfeit currency in Central Africa, the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) has launched a new mobile application to assist the general public and financial professionals in verifying the validity of banknotes from the 2020 series.

BEAC is the single central bank for the Central African Economic and Monetary Community, which includes Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo.

The "BEAC NG2020" app is now free to download from both the App Store and the Google Play Store.

It enables users to validate BEAC-issued bills by comparing them to officially illustrated security features, consequently reducing the circulation of counterfeit cash, an ongoing threat to the economic bloc's financial stability.

According to BEAC governor Yvon Sana Bangui, the new application complements the bank's efforts to increase public trust in the bills it issues..

“Fake money causes severe harm to the economy and particularly to unsuspecting persons who fall victim to counterfeiters,” Bangui said in a statement.

With its launch, BEAC encourages the general public, traders, banks, and microfinance institutions to use the app.

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