News | Cash & Payment News™

John Winchcombe

27 July 2026

5 min read

CBDC News

First the Digital Euro inched forward when the European Parliament’s (EP) Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee supported the European Central Bank’s (ECB) plans for a digital euro. Then it jumped another hurdle on its route to becoming a financial instrument when the Regulation on the digital euro was approved by the EP.

CBDC

John Winchcombe

27 July 2026

4 min read

Payment News

A Finextra article argues that Africa’s successful fintechs need to move on to tackle interoperability if they are to thrive.

Payments

John Winchcombe

27 July 2026

4 min read

News in Brief

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published a position paper outlining its Cash Smart Strategy, which aims to reduce the cost of cash, ensure it is broadly and equitably accessible across urban and rural areas and promote the ethical, secure and accountable stewardship of physical currency.

News

John Winchcombe

27 July 2026

5 min read

The Evolving Story of AI: Threat or Opportunity?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes with a whole language associated with it. It also comes with a thousand different views on whether it is a threat, an opportunity or something else. All agree that it represents a fundamental shift in how we live and work; we just haven’t worked out what it will mean. The world of currency and payments is not immune.

AI

John Winchcombe

27 July 2026

7 min read

ATMIA Berlin Conference Highlights

This year the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) ran its European and Emerging Markets event as a roadshow with one meeting in Madrid and another in Berlin in the same week at the start of June. We report here on three presentations from the conference – an overview of Germany, a report from the European Commission on progress with the Legal Tender Cash Regulation, and a detailed report from Piraeus Bank about what is happening to cash in Greece.

Cash Usage Free Free

John Winchcombe

19 July 2026

5 min read

CBDC News

Austria’s central bank (OeNB) hosted on 8 July a forum open to all about the digital euro and payments. It focused on the current challenges and opportunities of the digital euro which it presents as a common, European solution for payment transactions. It focused on the current challenges and opportunities of the digital euro which it presents as a common, European solution for payment transactions.

CBDC

John Winchcombe

19 July 2026

2 min read

New European Confederation to Defend and Advance Cash

Denaria Europe is a European confederation established this week in Brussels to defend access to cash. Specifically, the Spanish organisation Denaria, founded in 2021, has integrated with Denaria Portugal, the French Droit au Cash, and the Swedish Kontantupporet.

Access to Cash

John Winchcombe

19 July 2026

4 min read

Payment News

At the end of June, the Bank of England launched a consultation about the future of the UK’s retail payment infrastructure. The consultation focuses on the core clearing and messaging infrastructure needed to support the National Payments Vision for the future of retail payments.

Payments

John Winchcombe

19 July 2026

4 min read

News in Brief

The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has published a position paper outlining its Cash Smart Strategy, which aims to reduce the cost of cash, ensure it is broadly and equitably accessible across urban and rural areas and promote the ethical, secure and accountable stewardship of physical currency.

News

John Winchcombe

16 July 2026

5 min read

The Evolving Story of AI: Threat or Opportunity?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes with a whole language associated with it. It also comes with a thousand different views on whether it is a threat, an opportunity or something else. All agree that it represents a fundamental shift in how we live and work; we just haven’t worked out what it will mean. The world of currency and payments is not immune.

AI

John Winchcombe

16 July 2026

5 min read

Central Banks and Payments

Cash & Payment News™ sister publication Currency News™ runs a periodic series looking at the latest central bank annual reports in the context of cash activities – production, circulation, counterfeiting etc. In this equivalent period series, we will be looking at those same reports in the context of digital payments.

Central Banks Digital Payments Studies, Reports

John Winchcombe

14 July 2026

7 min read

ATMIA Berlin Conference Highlights

This year the ATM Industry Association (ATMIA) ran its European and Emerging Markets event as a roadshow with one meeting in Madrid and another in Berlin in the same week at the start of June. We report here on three presentations from the conference – an overview of Germany, a report from the European Commission on progress with the Legal Tender Cash Regulation, and a detailed report from Piraeus Bank about what is happening to cash in Greece.

Access to Cash ATMs Cash Management

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

2 min read

Cash data sources

Issue data tells us how many new notes and coins the issuing authority is putting into circulation. Issue data is an indicator for suppliers about how much cash central banks are using. It also gives us an indication of economic activity, which is often looked at alongside indicators of general economic activity. Issue data is not usually published by issuing authorities.

Cash in Circulation

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

1 min read

CB+DC Conference Comes to Europe

Following its recent Malaysian event, the next CB+DC Conference takes place 27-29 October in Amsterdam. Given that the US has just banned any prospect of a retail, or even wholesale, CBDC before 2030 in the same week that the European Parliament is pressing ahead with a digital euro, the timing and location of this event is right in the midst of the debate.

Events

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

2 min read

Cash Use Falls Back Slightly in the US

Results of the US Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC) and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (DCPC) have been published by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Boston and Federal Reserve Financial Services1. The DCPC, in which consumers record details of specific transactions (including dollar values) and their payment choices, was conducted in October 2025.

Surveys

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

4 min read

Cash In Circulation: Useful or a Blind Alley?

Economists, including those at central banks, and academics track, analyse and use cash in circulation (CIC) data extensively. What does it tell them and is it really useful for ‘cash stakeholders’ (anybody working to provide, manage and circulate cash)?

Cash in Circulation

Guillaume Lepecq

2 July 2026

5 min read

Public Discourse on Cash

In a recent paper – Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (SAFE Working Paper No. 474, April 2026) – Ulrich Bindseil, former Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the European Central Bank, analyses how stakeholders in the retail payments industry shape public debates and policymaking. His focus is primarily on digital payments, particularly CBDCs, which he argues have triggered unprecedented public debate. Notably, while central banks’ mandate to issue cash is acknowledged, the broader discussion on the role of cash in retail payments is largely omitted.

Future of Cash

Matt Sykes PhD and Scott Forster

2 July 2026

6 min read

More Cash, Less Speed: Reading the Signals on Cash Health in Asia

Currency in circulation (CIC) is often the first data point that is referred to when considering where cash is going and the health of cash systems. And on this measure, there are positive signs across many Asian markets. In an initial sample of eight economies, CIC grew between 45% and 349% over the period 2016 to 2024. In these markets, all have seen CIC grow in every year except Malaysia (0.2% decline in 2022, otherwise growth) and Australia (1.6% decline in 2023, current CIC is at an all-time high).

Cash in Circulation Cash Usage

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

7 min read

Danes Value Cash But Pay Digitally

Danmarks Nationalbank has published a paper about cash use in Denmark. The paper draws on the results of the latest survey of citizens’ payment habits, which took place in the autumn of 2025 – the latest in a series that started in 2017.

Cash Usage Free Future of Cash Free

John Winchcombe

2 July 2026

5 min read

CBDC News

In an Act about housing supply, the US Senate included a ban on the Federal Reserve issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or any substantially similar distributed ledger technology (DLT) based digital asset, until the end of 2030, including via intermediaries. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives.

CBDC

Latest News

CBDC News

Payment News

News in Brief

The Evolving Story of AI: Threat or Opportunity?

ATMIA Berlin Conference Highlights

CBDC News

New European Confederation to Defend and Advance Cash

Payment News

News in Brief

The Evolving Story of AI: Threat or Opportunity?

Central Banks and Payments

ATMIA Berlin Conference Highlights

Cash data sources

CB+DC Conference Comes to Europe

Cash Use Falls Back Slightly in the US

Cash In Circulation: Useful or a Blind Alley?

Public Discourse on Cash

More Cash, Less Speed: Reading the Signals on Cash Health in Asia

Danes Value Cash But Pay Digitally

CBDC News

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