Innovative Technology, the maker of the Smiley banknote validator, has opened a factory in South America.

The UK-based company has begun production at the new premises of subsidiary company Bellis Technology in Sao Paulo, Brazil. It is making a new banknote reader, the BV100, which will not be seen in Europe until the London shows.

The new reader is a US-style device and it will spearhead the company’s first major drive in the North American market.