The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published a position paper outlining its Cash Smart Strategy, which aims to reduce the cost of cash, ensure it is broadly and equitably accessible across urban and rural areas and promote the ethical, secure and accountable stewardship of physical currency.

The UK Government has commissioned an independent review to examine the impact of bank branch closures.

In a speech at the Banknote Conference on payment choice by Victoria Cleland, the Bank of England’s Executive Director, Payments, cash took centre stage.

OMFIF, an independent think tank for central banking, economic policy and public investment, has argued that cash plays a systemic role that no digital payment instrument, no matter how sophisticated, can replicate.

73.4% of voters endorsed a government proposal to guarantee the right to use cash, require the Swiss National Bank to maintain adequate supplies of notes and coins, and stipulate a nationwide vote to replace the Swiss franc with another currency.

In Germany, consumers can pay in unlimited amounts of cash. Only for sums over €10,000 do buyers have to prove their identity and prove the origin of the money.

Data from LINK, in the UK, shows that compared to 2024 ATM transaction volumes were 1.27 billion (down 8.3%) and withdrawal values were £76.67billion (down 4.2%). The average ATM withdrawal value in 2025 was £92.11.

Nigeria’s federal government has banned the use of physical cash for revenue payments and directed all ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to deploy point-of-sale terminals within 45 days, as part of a sweeping shift toward full electronic revenue collection.

Reuter has reported that Visa and Mastercard have agreed a $38 billion settlement with US retailers over interchange fees by agreeing to cut interchange fees, which typically average 2-2.5% per transaction, by a tenth of a percentage point over several years.

A new NCR Atleos white paper on cash in the digital age reminds readers that the word ‘ATM’ is like the word ‘Google’: It’s a verb, it’s a noun and it’s something that’s just readily understood all over the world.’