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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.’

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.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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%).