The 2023 Future of Cash Conference takes place 6-8 November in Istanbul and will bring together all stakeholders of the cash community – central banks, financial institutions, retailers, cash management companies, technology providers and suppliers – to discuss new strategies to design the cash cycle of the future.

The European Central Bank (ECB) has issued a progress report on the digital euro. The ECB’s thinking is in development, with a final decision to be made at a future date. A notable element in the report is the work on how the digital euro may be made available and harmonised with existing payment systems.

The Bank of Korea is planning to introduce a QR code-based ATM deposit and withdrawal service this year. When this service is in place, users will be able to make deposits and cash withdrawals and this function will be possible irrespective of whether the ATM belongs to the customer's bank or not.

The Silk Road Cash & Payments conference, which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the end of March, included a session looking at the future of cash, with presentations from the Bank of Israel, the Bundesbank and European Savings and Retail Banking Group.

The European Payments Initiative (EPI) was established to build a unified pan-European payment system to rival Mastercard and Visa. Consumers and merchants would be able to use a card, digital wallet and make person-to-person payments. The idea was backed by the European Central Bank (ECB) and 31 banks joined the EPI.

The Bank for International Settlements Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructure consists of 14 Advanced Economy and 13 Emerging Market Economy countries. It collects extensive data on their cash and electronic payments and uses these to draw conclusions about payment trends.

The IMF has issued a working paper ‘Stacking up the Benefits Lessons from India’s Digital Journey.’ In it, the IMF describes the achievement of India in creating a Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) that delivers significant benefits.

Sir Jon Cunliffe, Deputy Director Financial Stability at the Bank of England, has spoken about innovation in payments and money, focusing on the impact and opportunities offered by tokenisation, including the future of cash.

Yuserisal Mohd Noor, Head of Automated Cash Centre at Bank Negara Malaysia presented at the recent Silk Road Cash & Payments conference on the Bank's project to fully automate its cash centre.

The Riksbank has issued its phase 3 report on its work to understand how an e-krona might work. This phase investigated how the Riksbank could collaborate with existing payment service providers to allow access to the e-krona based on the existing collaborative approaches.

Anikó Bódi-Schubert and Ágnes Illés Belházy have provided a short summary of the content of the new Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) regulation on the processing and distribution of banknotes, its main motives and its expected impact on domestic cash payments.

Although a snapshot of cash related crimes taken from media reports, they are a reminder of the risks of cash related crime used to justify less cash. In January Cash & Payment News™ reported that for the first time ever no bank branch in Denmark had experienced an attack, since they no longer handle cash.

Latvijas Bank reported that in February 2023 non-cash payments made up 67% of transactions with cash responsible for the rest. The average number of payments per person per week was at a historical high of 14.3, up from 12.8 a year earlier.

Three leading French banks have announced a plan to share ATM services, similar to what has happened in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Germany’s community bank group has argued that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) should only be brought into circulation by commercial banks who should be ‘appropriately compensated’ for it.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.