While data about digital payments is usually good, measuring cash is problematic. Understanding cash usage is important for regulatory authorities. IMF Working Paper WP/23/62 explores the measurement of cash based on ATM cash withdrawals value as an alternative to the traditional cash in circulation as a proportion of GDP method.

On 5th April, FedCash® Services, Pakistan Security Printing Corporation, G+D and Reconnaissance will talk about different ways of disposing of unfit cotton banknotes in a free online seminar.

Cash Essentials has issued a report, ‘The Role of Cash in the Future Monetary Landscape’. Based on a Futures Literacy Lab hosted by Cash Essentials in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair for the Future of Finance at Ecole des Ponts Business School, in September 2022. The paper lays out how a Futures Literacy Lab works and seeks to understand the future of money.

The International Currency Association (ICA), representing the global currency sector, has published a Cash Policy White Paper, available on its website www.currencyassociation.org, which is summarised here. It wants policy makers to recognise that the benefits of cash to society may be lost without practical steps to protect the supply and acceptance of cash in society and promote its further development.

Something strange is happening in the US. According to PYMNTS research, fewer US restaurants are accepting digital wallets as a form of payment. Between September 2021 and April 2022, the number fell from 81% to 73%. At the same time consumer confidence in wallets has been rising.

Germany’s community bank group has argued that a Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) should only be brought into circulation by commercial banks who should be ‘appropriately compensated’ for it. It wants to see limits on the amount that may be stored by retail customers and an outright ban on businesses using it as a store of value to counter the risks of bank disintermediation.

Last month's Cyclone Gabrielle that hit New Zealand led to payment problems when power outages meant ATMs and payment systems didn’t work for several days. The importance of physical cash was shown yet again and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) is now considering new ways to ensure physical cash is available when power and telecommunication networks aren’t available.

Danmarks Nationalbank held a conference on 9 March in Copenhagen that looked at crypto assets and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), and then Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

The 2023 World Banknote Summit (WBS) took place in Antwerp and was structured around three key areas – the performance of cash in a crisis, the sustainability of cash and the future outlook of cash. While there was a slight European bias, the topics, lessons and discussions had a global relevance.

The cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase has published a series of tweets giving its perspective on stablecoins, providing a good summary and insight about them.

Although a snap shot of cash related crimes taken from media reports, they are a reminder of the risks of cash related crime used to justify less cash.

The Bank of Canada (BOC) has published two survey reports in the last few months. The first was the Methods of Payment survey 2021 and the second the Merchant Acceptance Survey Pilot Study.

The International Mint Industry Association (IMIA) issued a brief making the case for cash and for freedom of choice at its launch this month.

As noted in the December issue of Cash & Payment News™, the European Union has announced a set of new directives to limit the amount of cash and crypto transactions in a move, it says, that will crack down on money laundering and terrorist financing.

At the end of 2011, the Netherlands had 2,654 bank branches. At the end of 2021 this had fallen to 726, and not all of those provided over the counter cash services. At the same time, more than 4% of retailers now inform customers that they don’t accept cash.

The International Mint Industry Association has published a position paper (2023/01) urging the European Commission to give legal certainty on the implications of the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins in terms of mandatory acceptance and to enshrine it in secondary law.

Innovation in the UK’s banking sector continues, with Barclays Bank announcing the introduction of semi-permanent banking pods. 10 will be established by summer 2023 following a successful trial.

In a recent speech to the European Union Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, Fabio Panetta, European Central Bank board member, said the ECB is looking at a new digital euro app with a basic payment function and creating a standardised way of connecting end users to intermediaries.

Commercial banks are profit-seeking entities. Cost reduction to maximise profits and automation are core to achieving that. Bank branches and ATMs are expensive, hence the drive to close so many of them and, in the process, the ability to deposit and issue cash goes too. Merchants and the public are pushed towards going cashless, or at the very least, less-cash.

The Dutch National Bank has carried out research into how people are coping with adapting to digital payments. Nearly 20% of those over 18 years old, 2.6 million, struggle with digital payments.

Currency Research will be holding the inaugural Silk Road Cash & Payments Conference in Almaty from 27-29 March.

The International Mint Industry Association (IMIA) was founded last year and officially launched this month at the World Money Fair in Berlin, with a specific focus on research and advocacy for coins as part of the cash, and hence payments, ecosystem. IMIA President Gerhard Starsich (GS) and Managing Director Martina Horakova (MH) spoke to sister publication Coin & Mint News™ about the foundation of the new association, the role of coins in the cash cycle, and how the IMIA plans to make the case for their importance, and indeed that of cash overall.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has created an open access database of data relating to retail payment for 95 countries from September 2019 to June 2022.

The five countries who spend the most using mobile payments at the point of sale are China, America, the UK, France and Japan.

At the beginning of September, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revised cash withdrawal limits as part of its campaign to increase the use of electronic payments. Feedback on the limits has led it to update its original Circular.

Sveriges Riksbank has issued its 2022 Payments Report into the retail payments market. The report underlines the wide-ranging activities of the Riksbank to support the needs of all sectors of society when it comes to payment.

An important CBDC topic is its impact on a central bank’s ability to implement monetary policy. A technical paper by the BIS examines the possible impact of paying interest on CBDCs, or enabling CBDCs to compete with other payment methods in terms of convenience.

SICPA has entered into a strategic partnership with the INX Digital Company with the aim of helping governments develop innovative and sovereign Central Bank Digital Currency ecosystems.

The UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office has written a report which, amongst other things, considers the privacy implications of Decentralised Finance (DeFi).

The 2023 World Banknote Summit (WBS) takes place 20-22 February in Antwerp.

Italy is looking at possible compensatory measures to help retailers pay card fees following its change of heart on reducing cash limits.

The Fraunhofer Institute has been working on a project known as BASIC since January 2020, which aims to strengthen the resilience of the cash supply infrastructure in the event of an emergency or crisis.

Registration for the second Optical and Digital Document Security™ conference is now open, with a programme that demonstrates the importance of this event in bringing together people involved in developing digital systems for identity and financial transactions with the more traditional security document community.

Koenig and Bauer Banknote Solutions (KBBNS) has signed a new partnership with the virtual ATM company SONECT as part of its strategy to help reinvent the way we move, access and manage cash in society.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has reported on its Study on the Payment Attitudes of Consumers in the Euro Area (SPACE) 2022.

There will be very few organisations that can eliminate carbon emissions completely, and most organisations are going to take a number of years to get anywhere close.

Cash Works… But It Could Work Even Better! This is the title of the Koenig & Bauer Banknote Solutions white paper on cash innovation & sustainability.

The Dutch National Bank has issued a working paper considering the implications of moving to non-cash payment methods, if any.