The ATMIA held its Europe and Emerging Markets summit in London 14-15 October.

Increasingly one hears people speak about cash and payments co-existing in a symbiotic relationship. Generally this is in countries facing a sharp decline in cash use for transactions.

The International Association of Currency Affairs (IACA) held an online round table discussion considering the Future of Cash Management Services, with a particular focus on cash in transit (CIT) companies, cash management companies (CMC) and cash processors. The panellists were Charles Nwodo from Integrated Cash Management Services in Nigeria, Tanja Kulisch-Ziemens from the International Security Ligue (ISL) and Scott Forster from the CPT Group. David Faglemen from Enryo Consulting was the moderator.

Speaking at the ATMIA’s Europe and Emerging Markets summit, Benjamin Sahel from the European Central Bank (ECB) quoted Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, and Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB’s Executive Board, to reassure the audience that the ECB sees cash as indispensable and will ensure it remains available and easy to use.

Prof Jay Zagorsky from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University and author of a book, ‘The Power of Cash’, has spoken at a number of conferences recently, and now at the ATMIA’s Europe and Emerging Markets summit. He is an advocate for cash.

In times of crisis, cash is increasingly recognised for its resilience. At an IMIA organised roundtable, Päivi Heikkinen (Head of Payment Systems Department and Chief Cashier, Bank of Finland), Matthias Schroth (Director of Cash Management Department, Oesterreichische Nationalbank – OeNB), and Koen Thuis (Head of Cash Policy & Oversight Department, De Nederlandsche Bank – DNB) discussed approaches to the future of cash infrastructure and the cash payment habit with the aim of preserving cash resilience.

Swiss lawmakers have unanimously voted to enshrine the right to use cash in the nation’s constitution.

During a panel discussion at this summer’s Currency Technology Symposium, a number of speakers described their cash cycles and access to cash. While the Dutch National Bank (DNB) is insourcing cash processing as cash volumes fall, South Africa is working with stakeholders to manage the quality of notes in circulation, and Switzerland is collecting data to inform policy on maintaining access to cash. Furthermore, Prof Dr Barbara Brandl of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, highlighted the need for access to both cash and digital money, to mitigate against inequalities that come with digital-only payments.

David Fagleman from Enryo, a financial services consultancy1, published an article in Finextra about a surprising shift in the UK payment landscape, a digital slowdown2. A number of countries have reported a stabilisation in cash usage, the most recent being Canada in its 2024 Methods of Payment Survey3, suggesting that there is a ‘bottom’ for cash usage.

Matt Sykes of the CPT Group in Australia, global experts in cash, payments and money systems, has written a review about whether cash can deliver on its role providing critical redundancy for national payment systems. They want to start a debate about whether the infrastructure that supports cash distribution deliver on this promise given the acute and growing strain it is under. Does a misalignment between policy assumptions and market realities risk rendering cash ineffective as a payment option in a crisis?