Rick Haycock

Induction Year: 2025

Rick’s career summary:

In 1986, Rick Haycock joined Mohawk Data Sciences (MDS) in Canada which later became a subsidiary of US-based Recognition Equipment International (REI) specializing in the manufacture of  Optical Character Recognition (OCR) equipment for both the Postal Service and currency sorters for the banking world. This started a 35+ year passion and career in currency and payments that spanned multiple continents and industries.  In 1990 he became the Vice President of REI’s Currency Division and moved to Texas. Then In 1991, he bought the technology rights and IP to the REI next generation currency sorters and started Currency Systems International (CSI), a company he built up from 7 employees to over 350 with 7 international subsidiaries at the time it was sold in 2001 to De La Rue (DLR). As CEO, and with his high calibre and forward-thinking development team, CSI developed a high-speed currency processing system (CPS) that brought innovation, new ways of processing, including automated commercial deposit processing (ACDP), and most importantly, a renewed energy and competitive spirit to the market.  CSI would go on to sell their CPS to central banks, commercial banks, casinos, and cash management companies in over 40 countries around the world.  The competition CSI generated helped to propel further innovation and higher quality banknote sorting machines available to the market for the overall benefit of the industry, bringing more efficient and effective cash processing solutions globally.

During his span as Founder & CEO of CSI, he organised the very first conference for the currency industry, the Currency Automation Conference, in 1992 in San Francisco. This was the first time Senior Central Bank personnel from cash & issuance departments, along with the suppliers to the industry, could come together to network, debate, share experiences, learn and grow as a global community. These conferences (renamed the Currency Conference) have continued to serve as the origin of many innovative technology ideas for banknotes, the place key stakeholder collaboration talks would begin, the perfect gathering for organisations to share their latest technology releases, and where central banks could show off their newest banknote projects. In 1996 he founded and held the first North American Seminar on Currency Operations (NA$CO), later re-branded to the International Commercial Cash Operations Seminar (ICCOS) and finally settling on the Cash Cycle Seminars as they are known today, granting a space for communication and community between the commercial cash sector and the central banks. He also founded Currency Software Solutions (CSS) and Currency Consulting International (CCI) during these years.

When, in 2001, CSI, CSS and CCI were sold to DLR, he then bought back the conference side of the business (following his true passion!) and founded Currency Research (CR) in 2002. Over the course of the last 23 years, with Rick as CEO and then Chairman/Founder, CR grew from the CC and ICCOS events to incorporate multiple regional CCS events, The Coin Conference (CoCo) in 2013 co-founded with Reconnaissance International (RI), the Banknote Conference (purchased in 2015), The Central Bank Payments Conference (CBPC) founded in 2017, The Global Payment Summits (GPS) purchased in 2018, and many more newer initiatives such as the Silk Road Conference, the Digital Currency Conference and the Central Bank AI Conference. Throughout his career, Rick always strived to create a better connected and informed community.

Rick also founded new industry associations and publications in an effort to make the currency industry stronger through a sense of community and information sharing, including in 2004, founding and becoming the first Chairman of International Association for Currency Affairs (IACA).  IACA is a non-profit organisation that promotes and encourages excellence in the cash cycle and provides a platform for knowledge sharing and collaboration. Through IACA, Rick had the idea to start the industry’s first Excellence in Currency Awards program to promote and recognise excellence in banknote and coin production, processing, management, distribution, and related activities of the cash community.  Also, through IACA, Rick initiated the Currency Hall of Fame, which provides a permanent public record and memorial of the outstanding achievements of very select individuals who have made a significant impact in the Currency Industry. (He likely had no idea that one day, he would be a member!).  In 2014, Rick founded the Asia Cash Management Association to provide a platform for Cash Management Companies (CMCs) in Asia, Africa, and Australia & Oceania– to raise their professional reputation and standing in the Cash Handling and Cash Management Industry, and to act as a representative with the appropriate authorities on issues of common interest.

In 2003, Rick co-founded with RI, Currency Publications Ltd, the publisher of Currency News, Cash & Payment News and Coin & Mint News providing the industry with the latest news they need to keep informed and up to date.  In 2018, CR launched Central Bank Payments News (CBPN) which is dedicated to informing the worldwide central bank payments & market infrastructure community of payment issues impacting central banks today.

Many have referred to Rick as the ultimate visionary—as he always looked to the future of our industry, unsettled by any limitations placed on his innovative ideas and relentlessly imagining how the industry could be improved.  By way of example, he then skillfully and thoughtfully led his teams to make these visions a reality with a profound out-of-the box mindset unthinkable to many, but with a level of determination that would prove to be undeterred.  He has also been thought of as the consummate salesman – always telling his customers “it can be done, with my time and your money”, and building life-long relationships with customers. Non-believers would joke that some ideas could only come to fruition ‘the day that pigs can fly’, but many who visited his offices will recall the picture hung proudly of a pig with wings, precisely pointing out that you can make anything happen with effort and perseverance. But the key aspect that is evident throughout Rick’s career is his commitment to the currency industry and creating spaces for both collaboration and community building. No one else in the history of this industry has had such a clearly positive and widespread impact in this way.  Knowledge is key and from his biggest initiatives to his smallest, the sharing of information, education, and community has been his aim. It should not go unsaid that in the beginning, he joined university to train as a teacher and was waylaid by a computer science course. This led to his career path into the industry, but he never left his teaching passion too far behind!

Rick’s leadership

Throughout his career, Rick’s passion for teaching shone through in the way he mentored and led his teams. He had a keen eye for talent and human relations and held high expectations for each of his employees, but it was through his encouragement, mentorship, affording a realistic growth path, and creative team-building initiatives that he helped individuals realize their full potential. Just as he built a strong sense of community within the currency industry, Rick fostered a vibrant, healthy, open, inclusive and connected culture within the staff and senior management of his companies—encouraging collaboration, engagement, and knowledge-sharing, all the while making sure everyone had fun along the way.

Rick’s love for travel and exploration was infectious, and he made those experiences possible for many of his team members. The deep appreciation and lasting impact of his dedication was reflected in the many employees who remained loyal to him for many years—forming long-standing professional relationships that grew into lasting friendships over the course of his near to 40-year career.

Rick’s career timeline