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.

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.

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 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.

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).

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.