BRANCHH Consulting and Outsourcing has commissioned a Payments Preferences Survey for Jamaica which lays bare where the country is in its transition from analogue (cash) to digital payments.

In Pakistan, cash is more than a currency. It is a culture, convenience, and continuity which is woven deep into the nation’s economic identity. From the crowded street vendors in Karachi to elaborate wedding ceremonies in rural Punjab, the tangible crinkle of banknotes remains king. While much of the world surges towards digital transactions, Pakistan walks a slower, more tentative path.

While the United States and Brazil debate the use of bitcoin in their international reserves, the Banco Central de Chile, in line with its Governor's firm commitment to cash, categorically rules out this possibility, arguing that crypto assets do not meet the legal or technical criteria for their inclusion.

Matt Sykes of The CPT Group has published an interesting article on LinkedIn. While it discusses recent changes, and possible changes, to the Australian cash system, the article raises questions for all.

At the Digital Currency Conference, the Bank of Israel (BOI) laid out its CBDC approach starting with looking at the rapid growth of digital payments as a proportion of all payments across the world. Cash may be holding up in absolute numbers but relative to the total, it is falling fast.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) carried out its latest survey on the acceptance of cash at selected companies in Spring 2024 and has now published its findings. The good news is that cash continues to be strongly supported. The less good news is that there is early evidence of change.

A few days after celebrating its 90th anniversary, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shakti Kant Das has announced several new payment initiatives.

The Federal Reserve has published a paper on what happens to international payments and the role of the dollar should a US Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) be issued.

Danmarks Nationalbank has carried out an analysis of the role of cash in a low cash usage society.

For countries experiencing ‘less cash’, it is becoming normal to measure the distance people must travel to access cash from an ATM, or in Canada’s case and automated banking machine (ABM), or branch of a financial institution. The Bank of Canada has released a paper describing its travel- based metric and the results.