The CBDC Conference took place in Istanbul 12-14 September, with over 60 speakers, 40 central banks and 200 delegates meeting to consider the state of play for CBDCs.

As published in our sister publication Currency News™, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) held its Currency Technology Symposium 2023 in July in Munich, the main themes of which were resilience, hyper-efficiency and sustainability within the cash cycle and generally the role of cash in today´s world.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has been researching CBDCs. Its latest work found legal, regulatory, technical and operation issues that suggest an early launch of a CBDC is unlikely.

Dr Wolfram Seidemann, CEO of G+D Currency Technology, pointed out at the company’s July Currency Technology Symposium that it’s not only about the resilience of the existing cash cycle, but it’s also about innovating the new cash cycle.

The Bank of Ghana recently briefed the Payments Canada Summit on its CBDC work, the eCedi.

A new study published in the Munich Personal RePEc Archive looks at what influences consumers’ decision to use cash when presented with digital alternatives.

Laos has trialled a digital currency, the Digital Lao Kip, working with Soramitsu, a Japanese fintech company.

The Bank of Canada (BOC) has issued a staff discussion paper examining whether or how CBDCs can deliver on the promise of financial inclusion in a cashless society.

Austria is looking at including the right to use cash in its constitution. A task force is looking at putting the right to pay with physical money and to guarantee access to ATMs.

Asia Cash Cycle Seminar (ICCOS) The seminar takes place 11-13 September in Bangkok, co-hosted by the Bank of Thailand. It starts with a summit for central banks.

The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 is now law in the UK. The Act requires the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure the maintenance of reasonable provision of cash deposit and withdrawal services for personal and business current accounts held at banks.

An undergraduate study in Nigeria has been published by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive which considers what happens to money, monetary policy and financial assets when cash demand falls.

The role of Currency Issue Director is great preparation for high office in a central bank. Ask Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, or Michelle Bullock, soon to be Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, both of whom have managed currency in their banks. What makes it such good preparation?

McKinsey have issued a white paper on what is happening with AI and Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT).

The Banque de France issued a working paper in October 2022 that dealt with a number of fundamental questions about cash, questions that are particularly important in a less cash scenario. The paper addressed not just why people hold cash but why they hold different denominations. As the economy changes, what happens to cash holdings?

Safaricom has increased both the account and daily transaction limits on its M-Pesa mobile money service from KSh 300,000 to KSh 500,000, approximately $3,477. The limit for an individual transaction remains at Ksh 150,000.

CBDCs started to become visible in published papers and discussions around 2016. No doubt there was much material before then but the acceleration of interest and activity has taken CBDCs from a niche to main stream media discussions.

The Dutch National Bank recognises that while digital payments are a preferred payment solution for some, they are a challenge for others. A missing element in understanding this is the extent to which cash is important and which groups cannot do without cash.

The European Commission (EC) has published proposals on the legal tender status of cash and a possible future European Central Bank Digital Currency.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, ‘big data’ and ChatGPT have now reached the public consciousness in a big way, hence headlines such as ‘Central Bank of Ireland blocks ChatGPT for staff as financial services firms grapple with AI’ and ‘China’s Central Bank Warns Against ChatGPT ‘Data Leaks’.