Scott Hamilton has written a useful summary in Finextra of the possible impact of stablecoins on transactions, particularly cross-border1. While adoption is rising fast, the future is not yet secure.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has formed a task force to explore adoption of stablecoins. It is doing this in the context of the eNaira, which is proving unpopular.

At the recent Asia Cash Management Association meeting at the Asia Cash Cycle conference in Bali, Scott Forster of the CPT Group presented on the systemic resilience and fragility of the cash infrastructure. For cash to survive, the cash infrastructure must be sustainable and viable.

Mastercard has held an ‘African Edge Summit’ to accelerate Africa’s digital payments. The event focused on building infrastructure, and interoperability with a focus on consumers and small businesses with representatives from banks, fintech companies, telcos, regulators and technology partners.

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.

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.

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.

Pascal Wicht presented SICPA’s research on Gen Z at the Future of Cash. The title of the presentation was ‘Cash in a Careless System – Reframing Value, Autonomy and Resilience’. And it was a thought-provoking presentation.

Barbara Jaroszek, Director, Cash and Issue Department at Narodowy Bank Polski (NBP), spoke about ‘Poland’s Paybook for Unthinkable Times’ at the Future of Cash conference in Warsaw on 4 November.

We are in a different place compared with even two years ago and the conversation about the future of cash is changing substantially. This was visible in the agenda and the conversations of this year’s Future of Cash conference, which took place in Warsaw at the start of November.

The European Parliament’s Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs issued its draft report on the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on the establishment of the digital euro on 3 November.

Since its inception in 1995, the Cash Cycle Seminar, organised by Currency Research (CR) has united industry leaders to share insights and innovations shaping the future of cash. Marking its third decade, the Asia Cash Cycle Seminar 2025, which took place 22-25 September in Bali, Indonesia, carried the theme ‘Cash Cycle 360: Redefining Resilience with Technology & Trust’.

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

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.

A snapshot of recent annual reports (relating to 2024) and their payment contents.

The leader of China’s Digital Currency Research Institute has obliquely hinted that the eCNY may evolve to involve fractional banking, becoming a tokenised deposit solution anchored by a wholesale CBDC.

Meta has added a QR code-based payments option to the WhatsApp Business App in India, allowing small businesses to share QR codes in one tap so that customers can pay directly within WhatsApp using their preferred payment method.

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.

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.

The digitalisation of payments offers speed, convenience, and global reach. Yet, this transformation comes with additional vulnerabilities—chief among them, the risk of outages that can paralyze payment systems.

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.’

A key theme of the ATMIA’s Europe and Emerging Markets summit was how access to cash is being managed in the UK. Barclays Bank, Cash Access UK, OneBanx and NatWest Bank spoke about the reality behind the UK’s journey to tackle the problem of access to cash.

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.

A year ago, payments expert Jeremy Light started a substack called ‘Agenda: Payments’ with the aim of helping readers around the world keep track of national payment landscapes and payment themes. He has recently posted data on reader response to 50 articles written across nine broad categories, giving an indication of where their focus and interest lie.

The ‘Cash Paradox’ is the well known conundrum of cash transaction volumes falling while cash in circulation volumes increase. This gap can only be explained by cash hoarding. Much of this will be by commercial banks, hence the surge in cash returned to the European Central Bank once its interest rate turned from negative to positive.

The ATMIA Europe & Emerging Markets Summit will take place on 14-15 October in London, with a strong focus on cash’s evolving role in a digital-first world.

Following the announcement by the US Treasury that it has begun the process of phasing out production of the one cent (penny) coin, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta published an article on its Policy Hub: Macroblog on the topic.

In Brazil, hackers have gained access to funds worth BRL 800 million ($148 million), held in accounts at the Banco Central do Brasil (BCB). They achieved this by exploiting the valid credentials of an employee associated with the BCB’s instant payment network Pix. The implications and consequences of this incident have led to doubts about the cybersecurity of Brazil’s financial system.

Reuters reports that China’s State Council is considering allowing the use of yuan- backed stablecoins. Intended to boost adoption of the yuan globally, this would be a change in policy given that China banned cryptocurrency trading and mining in 2021 due to concerns about the stability of the financial system.

At the end of August, concerns about PayPal’s security system led to €10 billion worth of payments being suspended in Germany, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

A survey by UK ATM network LINK found that people under 45 in the UK tend to prefer a digital wallet, while people who are older use physical debit cards. Fewer than half of UK adults carry a physical wallet. Despite that, in 2024 about £1,250 in cash per adult was withdrawn from ATMs and 51% of people said they had used cash in the previous week.

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.

Over the last five years the UK has closed a higher percentage of branches (34%) than almost all European countries, less than Spain (37%) and the Netherlands (48%).

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.

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

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a member-based organisation committed to helping banks address the effects of climate change and associated economic impact, has ‘initiated a member vote to decide on a proposed transition from a membership-based alliance to establishing its guidance as a new framework initiative’. This follows the decision by every large bank member in the US and Canada, and several others outside North America, to leave the organisation, with most departing between late 2024 and mid-2025.

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?

The CB+DC Conference 2025 will take place from 9-11 September in the Bahamas. Unsurprisingly, the Central Bank of the Bahamas, with the world’s first circulating CBDC, the Sand Dollar, is playing a key role in the conference. It is also celebrating its 50th anniversary.

The GENIUS Act (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins Act), is a US federal bill establishing the first comprehensive regulatory framework for the issuance and supervision of payment stablecoins in the US. The legislation introduces a tiered oversight model, codifies prudential standards, and confirms that payment stablecoins are not to be treated as securities or deposit liabilities. It is, therefore, critical legislation with global implications.

The Central Bank of Brazil wants to deliver a CBDC, the Drex, in 2026.

Central banks are exploring ways to make cross-border wholesale payments faster and cheaper using new technologies such as tokenisation. A recent Financial Times article lays out the options.

Fifth Third Bank are the sixth-largest commercial payments provider in the US by revenue, and they spoke at G+D’s Currency Technology Symposium in July. They have just announced that they are buying DTS Connex, which provides cash management software for multi-location businesses such as retailers, restaurants and healthcare providers.

A new Japanese survey has found that the most common method for cashless payments is to use a barcode or QR code displayed on a smartphone, with 84.2% of people using one.

At G+D’s Currency Technology Symposium in July, one of the discussions centred on how efficiency can be leveraged to build resilience across a wide range of scenarios. Managing the steady state is relatively straightforward with its predictable workflow, regular cash processing volumes within expected parameters, reliable supply chains, sufficient staff etc.

Despite predictions of a cashless society, cash remains vital across all age groups. New ECB research reveals older adults prefer cash for transactions, but young adults pay with cash at roughly the average rate and keep cash reserves. The perceived importance of cash is rising for all!

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.

European Central Bank (ECB) Executive Board Member Piero Cipollone has confirmed in a speech the ECB’s view that euro cash will remain essential alongside a digital euro, emphasising its role as a stable medium of exchange and store of value.

Currency Research’s (CR) regionally focused Cash Cycle Seminars are returning the second half of this year with stops in Bali and Miami. Established in 1995, the Cash Cycle Seminars bring global best practices around commercial cash management, distribution, and circulation to address key issues in regional markets, providing a holistic view of the cash cycle and the challenges and opportunities confronting the entire range of industry stakeholders.

France’s National Payments Committee urges immediate action to secure future payments sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions. Cash is crucial for economic resilience, industrial autonomy and national sovereignty.

A new paper from the SUERF, the European Money and Finance Forum, explains that the rising systemic importance of Non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), is sharply increasing the need for central banks to intervene to stabilise financial systems as banks become less able to provide liquidity.

UK Finance recently published its Annual Fraud Report. It describes in detail what is happening and changes in fraud. Although it does not say how those costs are then passed on to the consumer, it will undoubtedly be the consumer who ultimately pays. Understanding fraud is, therefore, important.

Pakistan’s 2025-2026 federal budget marks a decisive policy pivot toward cultivating a digitally empowered, future-oriented financial landscape.

Five big banks in Belgium have joined the European Payments Initiative (EPI) with the intention of rolling out the Wero digital wallet and instant account-to-account (A2A) payment application to customers in the first half of next year.

Mastercard’s Chief Product Officer says stablecoins offer promising attributes like high speed and low costs but lack essential attributes like a seamless user experience and wide distribution to consumers.

ATMIA recently held a webinar with Diebold Nixdorf (DN) looking at the role of ATMs in sustainable banking. Contributors were Helena Mueller, VP Europe, Matt Phillips, Head of Banking, UK & Ireland and Raoul Meichtry, Managing Director, Switzerland.

Despite the rapid rise of digital payments, cash remains a critical pillar of the global financial system, especially in regions where digital infrastructure is lacking or financial inclusion is low. The cash ecosystem is complex, involving central banks, commercial banks, cash-in-transit (CIT) companies, and technology providers. It is also facing mounting pressure to adapt due to infrastructure vulnerabilities, economic misalignments, financial exclusion and a need for better crisis preparedness.

The news pages and feeds are full of stories about stablecoins at the moment. For example, Citi has recently announced that they are looking to issue their own stablecoins and their CEO, Jane Fraser, said that stablecoin issuance could reach $3.7 trillion by the end of the decade. In the US President Trump has signed into law the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act to establish a regulatory framework for ‘payment’ stablecoin issuers.

Over 80% of online merchants offer payment by Cash on Delivery (CoD) in markets such as Greece, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

At May’s Currency Conference the Bank of Thailand’s (BOT) Anak Somkanae, Senior Director, Payment Infrastructure and Services Strategy and Development Department, presented on cash logistics and its significant carbon footprint and. Separately, Montira Pattanakul, Senior Director, Banknote Operations Department took part in panel discussion on the cash product from cradle to grave. These two sessions gave an excellent overview of the BOT’s cash operations.

Speaking in Kyiv at the National Bank of Ukraine, the Governor of the Bank of England (BoE) spoke about the role of central banks in the context of changing market structures and events. His speech throws an interesting light on recent developments in the US and Europe in this area.

Finally, the US Senate has passed legislation about stablecoins after a number of years trying.

The CB+DC Conference 2025 takes place from 9-11 September in Nassau, in collaboration with the Central Bank of The Bahamas.

The Payment Choice Coalition (PCC) in the US is an initiative launched in July 2024 by a high-level group of executives from companies active in the cash cycle: Brinks, Davis Bancorp, Fifth Third Bank, G+D, Loomis, and Lowers Risk Group. It has since expanded to include NCR Atleos, Diebold Nixdorf, Western Union, Controltek, and Crane Payment Innovations.

If you pay for something with a banknote the transaction involves you and the merchant. With the arrival of cheques banks became involved. The credit and debit card required the four pillar model that remains the basic platform for most digital payments, involving four parties (issuer bank, acquirer bank, merchant and cardholder. This four pillar model has at least six steps between the card being tendered and the transaction being completed.

May’s edition of Cash & Payment News™ reported on a recent Bank of Canada staff paper updating a previous study on access to cash in Canada. Hot on its heels is a new paper that moves the topic forward.

A survey of UK consumers by LHV Bank finds growing frustration with both traditional and digital banks.

Amnon Samid is a co-founder and leader of the interdisciplinary BitMint team that is working on Quantum-Resistant solutions for data, communication and money, including tokenisation, crypto, CBDC, stablecoins, lending, and any other value transfer and protect. He managed the first ever CBDC project that passed banking stress tests.

This year a Cash Sustainability workshop is being run alongside the High Security Printing (HSP) conference in Latin America. It makes sense, therefore, that a new Environmental Award is being announced at the conference, even though the award is open to any organisation anywhere.

On 28 April, Spain, Portugal, and parts of France experienced a widespread electrical outage that plunged about 55 million people into a pre-electric age. The blackout had significant impacts on digital payments and cash demand, highlighting the vulnerabilities of modern payment systems during infrastructure failures.

The Nordic countries – Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Estonia – are reacting to risks to the payment system by working together on offline payments.

Banco Central do Brasil launched Pix, its real-time payment (RTP) system, in November 2020. Pix has a sophisticated technological infrastructure that was developed and is operated, managed and regulated by the central bank.

In 2023, the Bank of Canada developed a travel-based measure of cash access. This quantified how far Canadians needed to travel to their nearest Automatic Banknote Machine (ABM) or financial institution (FI) branch. This study has been updated with the latest available data, 2023, and the opportunity has been taken to improve the data quality of the ABM data provided by Mastercard, such as duplicate records, missing ABMs and issues with ABM coordinates.

The latest US survey and diary of consumer payment choice compared October 2023 with October 2024.

An article by David Birch has argued that cash should not be regarded as the catastrophe solution. Cash is a solution, but only for very short time frames. What is needed is the means for person-to-person (or actually, device-to-device) payments that work in the absence of mobile networks, electricity and clearing systems. For example, a device with the necessary secure microchip, or a bank smart card, allows you to pay in shops, or send money to a friend. This is how the Chinese digital currency works.

In late February, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) gave evidence to the Economics Committee of the Australian Parliament. At the time, press reports interpreted her remarks as suggesting cash will be gone in ten years. Matt Sykes, of CPT group, has published his thoughts on the actual state of cash in Australia based on available data.

Sveriges Riksbank (Riksbank) works to ensure that payments in Sweden are safe, efficient, and accessible. They need to function in peacetime, crisis, and states of heightened alert. The Riksbank publishes a payments report most years, although 2023 was an exception. The latest report describes and analyses developments in the payments market over the past year.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has published an article on the evolution of video game payments infrastructure. As gaming has become big business, companies have changed how they monetise and distribute games to their customers, as well as adapted and evolved their payments infrastructure to support new revenue models. Changes in gaming payments represents a microcosm of what is happening in payments more broadly.

A new survey of central banks and state printing works in Latin America, Central America and the Caribbean has identified their environmental priorities. 42% of countries in the region replied, and their answers have been used to shape the agenda for a day dedicated to a workshop on Cash Sustainability on Monday 9 June in Rio de Janeiro. The event is being held in conjunction with the International Currency Association.

2024 European Central Bank (ECB) survey data found that about half of point- of-sale payments in Ireland were made using cash. The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill has now been passed in Ireland to ‘provide for the continued provision of sufficient and effective access to cash infrastructure’. The new Act makes legal provision for the availability, operation, regulation and accessibility of ATM services and cash service points.

MyCarbon, who spoke at the Cash Sustainability Forum™, has recently teamed up with Santander Bank to explain about Scope 3 reporting of greenhouse gas emissions for small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).

Currency Research (CR) is hosting the 2025 Digital Currency Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, 28-29 May 2025. Nearly 200 delegates from central banks, financial institutions, fintechs, and technology providers from across the globe will come together to discuss the rapidly evolving digital currency landscape. Now in its 4th edition, the Digital Currency Conference was previously held in Mexico City (2022), Washington, DC (2023), and London (2024).

Reconnaissance, working with Currency Publications, started a programme of sustainability-related projects at the end of 2021 with the publication of ‘Cash: A Roadmap to Sustainability’. Since then, we have continued a programme of work which has been made freely available in an effort to help reduce our industries environmental impact.

In early January of this year, an article in Chile’s primary newspaper almost proudly touted the fact that Chile’s CLP had reached a new status in Argentina (the CLP is the name of the exchange rate used by anyone in Chile who needs to buy US dollars unofficially). Suddenly, the Chilean peso had achieved sufficient stature to be exchanged informally at multiples of ARS 1.03 to 1.21 for each CLP 1.

In monetary exchange, holding money is evidence of past transactions of goods sold or services rendered. In effect, money can be seen as a record-keeping device. A monetary system needs a record of who has what and where it has moved.

As yet unsubstantiated rumours report that China is linking its digital renminbi cross- border payment system to the 10 ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and six Middle East jurisdictions.

This year Microsoft turns 50. Amazon is just over 30, Meta is 21 and the iPhone is just 18. Another organisation turning 18 this year, one that has had a major impact on payments, is M-Pesa. Payments:Unpacked recently ran an article from Jeremy Light’s Agenda:Payments newsletter2 celebrating M-Pesa’s milestone birthday.

The Bank of England (BOE) is in the design phase of work on a digital pound (DP). As part of this phase, it is conducting experiments and proofs of concept in collaboration with private- sector innovators and a range of stakeholders.

A Centre for Economic Policy Research paper has focused on the need for central banks to be financially resilient.

Auriga, which creates omnichannel banking software, has published a white paper on a net zero cash management strategy. The paper starts by raising the question of just how green digital payments actually are before going on to focus on cash.

A new OECD paper highlights the importance of balancing digital innovation with the enduring need for cash. By adopting comprehensive policies and initiatives, governments can ensure that all segments of society have access to reliable and secure payment methods, fostering financial inclusion and stability in the digital age.

Reconnaissance International has unveiled DataVault™, the industry’s first dedicated, searchable online database for banknotes and coins – designed specifically for currency professionals who need fast, reliable, and up-to-date information.

An article in the BBN Times has explored the future of digital payments, particularly where users convert digital transactions into real cash, which they refer to as small payment cashing, and what users can expect in the coming years.

A paper by PCMI assesses opportunities for stablecoins in cross-border payments1. Stablecoins are blockchain-based digital assets pegged to a fiat currency and around $210 billion worth are in circulation, the largest issuers being Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).

Mark Carney is Canada’s new prime minister, chosen by the Liberal Party after the resignation of Justin Trudeau.

Account-based Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is not a radical departure from existing forms of money. While there is a need to amend and develop existing public law in the form of central bank and monetary law for CBDC, tokenbased CBDC represent a new form of money. The IMF has already written about account-based CBDC. It has now issued a paper on the private law framework needed for a retail token-based CBDC.

An interesting Finextra article examines whether CBDCs are being planned without public support, the ‘solution in search of a problem’ conundrum. There are though, two distinct issues: the policy rationale (the fundamental problems a CBDC aims to address) and the use cases (why individuals might actually adopt it).

We live in a digital age. But not everybody finds that easy. A recent paper by the Bank of Canada explores some of the challenges that digital systems create. Its conclusions are important for anybody working on digital interfaces and systems, not just those focused on digital payments.

Veriff, the AI-driven identity verification company, has issued two payment fraud reports which show that fraud affects almost one in 20 (5%) transactions. The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) annual fraud report found fraud has exploded in the last two decades.

‘In light of the deteriorating security situation in Sweden and our neighbouring region, both public and private actors need to urgently step up their efforts to create a payments market that can withstand disruptions,’ says the Riksbank governor.

In the US Marqeta is now working with Green Dot so that Green Dot’s money movement network allows customers and businesses the ability to deposit cash to bank accounts at more than 95,000 locations nationwide. Marqueta and Green Dot are fintechs.

In January the European Central Bank made an announcement about stablecoins which led to some readers believing it had said stablecoin issuers would be able to back euro stablecoins with central bank reserves. A paper by the Bretton Woods Committee, while literally correct in what it said, also added to this misunderstanding. A clarification was issued.

The volume of cash in circulation in Armenia is continuing to increase despite the developments and rapid growth of non-cash payment methods. In connection with the above, the effective organisation of cash circulation is becoming a primary issue.

This is the title of a recently published study that is the third and final module in a series of studies in Germany looking at the ‘Costs and Benefits of Cash and Cashless Payment Instruments’.

The Dutch National Bank (DNB) reported on the sustainability work of the Joint European Tender (JET) group at the Intergraf Currency+Identity conference. This is a tangible banknote specific example of an approach to using procurement to drive change.

Stefan Hardt, Chief Cashier of the Bundesbank, posed this question at the recent Intergraf Currency+Identity conference in Milan. Ironically, this comes just as the Bank of England appoints Victoria Cleland to have a combined role of being Executive Director for Payments and Chief Cashier. Sarah John, the current Chief Cashier, is moving to be the Bank’s Chief Operating Officer.

In the fast-changing world of financial technology, companies that once soared can just as quickly find themselves in free fall. AGS Transact Technologies, a prominent player in India's digital payments and cash management sector, is currently at the centre of a developing crisis that has sent shockwaves through the industry.

On 5 February 2025, the Deutsche Bundesbank held its sixth cash symposium in Berlin. Around 120 participants from politics, industry and society attended.

A new paper by the European Money & Finance Forum (SUERF) examines the importance of words. It examines the words and language used to in current economic and policy discussions of these developments in digital money and payments because their use is causing confusion.

The effect of financial inclusion (FI) on financial stability has gained attention in recent years because of its importance for effective policymaking. While policymakers aim to achieve FI and financial stability goals simultaneously, overlooking the potential trade-offs between them can expose economies to costly systemic crises or hinder the progress of FI.

Data both allows and creates questions. Answering questions generates information. Information allows decisions and actions. Without accurate, relevant, reliable, consistent, standardised and timely data, creating and delivering anything is hard, particularly change.

A recent survey has shown that the Israeli public is open to using a Digital Shekel. While 51% of respondents had either a high or intermediate interest in the digital currency, privacy did not rank as particularly important, and interest in the CBDC increased with age.

The High Security Printing (HSP) Latin America conference will take place 9-11 June in Rio de Janeiro. The call for papers is open until 10 March and the early registration discount ends on 16 March. On Monday 9 June there will be a day long workshop dedicated to sustainability.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) published its phase 1 evaluation report of its CBDC project in December 2023 having completed proof of concept studies and a pilot phase run as an R&D project. In the pilot, first payment transactions on the Digital Turkish Lira System were executed successfully. This report shared design choices and approaches adopted in this stage of the project.

France has witnessed an unprecedented decline in physical attacks by criminals on ATMs, thanks to cutting-edge developments in security technology. Over the past decade, the implementation of Intelligent Banknote Neutralization Systems (IBNS) by Oberthur Cash Protection has played a pivotal role in this transformation.

The Banque de France’s First Deputy Governor, speaking at the Central Bank Payments Conference in Paris in earlier this month, has said that it is addressing the significant changes in the payment system through a regulatory framework that is demanding but innovation friendly and making changes to ensure central bank money remains at the heart of settlement between intermediaries.

The European Intelligent Cash Protection Association (EURICPA), the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) and the European Security Transport Association (ESTA) have announced new three way strategic partnerships aimed at strengthening ATM security, tackling physical attacks on cash machines and cash transportation security.

A new white paper investigates how cash management is changing and best practice for optimising efficiency, thereby reducing the cost and environmental impact of cash. Written by John Winchcombe of Reconnaissance International (co-publishers of Cash & Payment News™) and Paul Blond of The Blond Group, with help from the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), the paper focuses on what happens to cash once it has been issued, because that is where the majority of the environmental impact of cash occurs.

In the context of the decline of cash usage in Sweden, the Deputy Governor of Sweden’s Riksbank, Aino Bunge, has emphasised the need for regulation to protect the status of cash at a seminar in Sweden’s parliament.

The singleness of money is that principle that all different forms of money must have the same value at all times and be interchangeable at par and without cost. A criticism of regulators such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and Bank of England (BoE) is that stablecoins may undermine the ‘singleness of money’.

Lars Hupel, from Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), makes the case for the importance of offline functionality in payments in a new white paper titled ‘Secure Offline Digital Payments’.

In the UK at the end of January Barclays Bank had a major IT outage, followed by HSBC, which meant customers could not use their online banking. At the same time Lloyds Bank and NatWest have announced even more bank branch closures and the UK government has confirmed it will not require retailers to accept cash payments.

Every country has the ‘unbanked’, those without access to the financial system. A paper at the end of last year from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia explored the situation in the US by looking at the biennial Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) National Survey of Unbanked and Underbanked between 2015 and 2019. The paper aimed to understand those who are unbanked and how these relationships evolved.

The Bundesbank has published the third module of its study into the costs of cash and card payments from the consumer’s point of view.

The use of coin dates back over 2,500 years, and in an industry that old, it can be difficult to do anything genuinely ‘new’. Hence the excitement when NatWest hosted what’s believed to be the first ever cash hackathon at their London HQ in late November, with attendees from a range of industries, to innovate on future payment methods, and reimagine the future of cash.

In a special report 01/2025, ‘Digital payments in the EU’ (European Union), the European Court of Auditors says that EU’s approach to digital payments has helped to make them ‘safer, faster and cheaper for users’.

OMFIF, in partnership with Giesecke+Devrient, is publishing a report in February exploring the factors contributing to the hesitation about launching a CBDC and what concerns central banks struggle with. In the report’s survey of central banks, 81% of respondents have issued or expect to issue a CBDC at some point, with 47% expecting to issue one within five years.

While consumer payments are changing, cash continues to flourish. However, there is a need to address some of inefficiencies in cash handling if cash is to thrive.

Research has found that paying with cash is associated with pain and that people tend to spend less using cash rather than a payment card.

The first quarter of the 21st century has witnessed a major change in payments across the world. Many payments traditionally made in cash have been replaced by frictionless and convenient options that eventually become widely accepted and change consumer payment behaviour.

The headlines in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2024 study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) paint an interesting picture for cash payments, both alone and relative to other payment instruments.

As the global payments landscape evolves, Asia’s currency trends offer invaluable insights into the future of cash and digital payments. This analysis by De La Rue’s Richard Sokl, who also spoke about this at the HSP Asia conference, considers the dynamics of cash’s enduring role, the challenges posed by the digital divide, and how currency strategies are adapting to meet diverse needs.

60 people met in Jakarta at the end of September last year for a summit by the Asian Cash Management Association (ACMA). They came from a range of stakeholders across cash cycles in the region, including central banks, Cash Management Companies (CMCs) and commercial banks.

Members of the UK’s Cash Industry Environmental Charter (CIEC) Group have shared best practice and worked together since 2021 with the aim of reducing the carbon footprint of notes and coins in the cash cycle.