OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute recently published a report on the Future of Payments. The report is a thorough examination of non-cash payment developments but two elements stood out. Firstly, a striking infographic showing the age profiles of four parts of the world and, secondly, more information on the growth, importance and impact of mobile payments.

In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the Bank of England published an article ‘Cash in the time of COVID’. The article seeks to explain what it referred to as the cash ‘paradox’, that cash in circulation is up while cash transaction volumes are down, which has been brought into sharp relief during the pandemic.

The Libra Association has rebranded itself as the Diem Association, its payment service operator will be called Diem Networks and its currency the Diem Dollar. Its Calibra blockchain group, responsible for the digital wallet that will hold the Diem Dollar, has already been renamed Novi.

On 15 December a new approach to branch banking started in the UK. OneBanks has partnered with the Co-op retailer to open a fully staffed kiosk in the shop. Although opening in December, it only goes fully live in January. The kiosk is opening in Denny, a Scottish town which has not had any banking facilities for over two years. It is estimated 40% of Scottish towns have one or fewer bank branches.

The Dutch National Bank (DNB) has commissioned a medium-term study to consider the cash infrastructure needed by the Netherlands. In October 2020 the DNB estimates that cash use at the point-of-sale had fallen to 20%.

Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) are a less talked about element of the CBDC conversation, perceived as more operational than revolutionary. However, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has successfully concluded a proof-of-concept project with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and SIX to explore the performance of the technology to integrate a tokenised digital asset and central bank money.

The UK Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) reported on the production and distribution of cash at the end of November. PAC was concerned that the cash distribution infrastructure is at risk, there is a lack of urgency in the response of the public bodies responsible with little action, a lack of clarity about the end goal and no realistic plan. Banknote stocks appear unnecessarily high without a clear explanation of why, and coin production appears unsustainable and not cost effective in the light of falling demand.

Garanti BBVA has developed software using Big Data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to manage its cash logistics. Alper Sayin, Head of Cash Planning and Operations, has written about his experience introducing this software and how they are using it.

The South China Morning Post has published its first China FinTech report. Mobile payments now account for four out of every five payments and for more than half the value of all non-cash retail payments for consumers and businesses. The report states that China’s massive domestic financial market has an estimated 87% of consumers using FinTech services, a $29 trillion mobile payment market in 2019.

In the July edition of Cash and Payments News Paul Blond, Managing Partner of The Blond Group, wrote about the initial impact of COVID-19 in Australia and how not only cash, but all payment methods took a tumble as the widespread lockdown of the country impacted the economy. With the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) publishing its latest data, Paul has taken a look at the numbers.

Just over five decades after the world’s first ATM was installed in London, conditions have converged to make the reinvention of the ATM inevitable. Next Gen ATMs are an idea, or vision, whose time has come.

The global pandemic sadly forced the postponement of the Asia Cash Cycle Seminar (ICCOS) due to be held in Manila in September. However, this has allowed Currency Research to pivot to using virtual platforms for community engagement and education. Having recently and successfully run virtual events for Europe and Americas, the attention now falls to Asia.

Only 28.5% of Africa’s 1.17 billion people have bank accounts and the infrastructure of bank branches and ATMs is sparse. The last 20 years had seen payments in Africa change rapidly along African lines, rather than those of Europe or Asia or elsewhere. While payments in Africa continue to change, it appears that the future is mobile.

This is the latest in our periodic series of country cash profiles, focusing on México, host to the 2021 HSP Latin America conference. It has been prepared with the assistance of the Bank of Mexico, which has built a new print works, is in the process of issuing a new family of notes, and is one of the world’s leading central bank when it comes to cash management.

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) are a hot topic with implications for us all. Whether you are new to them or deeply into the topic, the new CBDC conference in Frankfurt 21-23 June 2021 will be of interest.

Norges Bank Deputy Governor Ida Wolden Bache spoke recently about the Bank’s thinking on CBDCs, or DSPs as they are known in Norway. Even with cash steady since the Spring at 4% of transactions, surely the lowest figure in the world, Norges Bank is in no hurry to issue a DSP. It continues though, to think and prepare.

In January the Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology team from the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the US issued a comprehensive toolkit to help central banks develop their Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) policy by giving them a step by step process to follow, supported by detailed worksheets.

Chris Skinner recently wrote in his blog, www.thefinanser.com, about the future role of bank branches. His story was based on two Brandseye surveys of consumer sentiment in the UK about banks, one pre-COVID and the other, more recently, ‘during’ COVID.

David Lott of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta gave an interview to ATM Market Place based on their 2019 consumer survey and some additional surveys carried out this year, as well as their normal cash processing role.

When disruption occurs and the past is no longer a reliable starting point and guide for the future, understanding the fundamentals is important. A recent paper published in CESIFO working papers (8574 2020) adds to our knowledge of household demand for cash.