In Denmark cash may only be used in 12% of transactions, but one in four person-to-person transactions are made in cash and one in three Danes hold cash at home as a reserve. How much people hold has also increased.

A new IMF paper concludes that the main influence on the demand for cash, and why demand is falling, seems to lie in the demand preferences of changing population structures. If CBDCs are issued, the demand for cash may continue to fall, but the demand for card usage may fall by even more.

In 2020 Apple bought Mobeewave, a start-up working to enable contactless payments using smart phones. Bloomberg has reported that Apple will allow small businesses to use iPhones to accept payments ‘in the coming months’.

A recent post highlighted how misleading the constant stream of headlines about a cashless society is. Going cashless makes for wonderfully shocking, attention-grabbing headlines.

China has been working hard to get its e-CNY ready in the run up to the Beijing winter Olympics with the aim of using the games to test its CBDC. The e-CNY could be used by visitors to China as well as the local population.

In countries where less cash is already underway, there is an underlying assumption that it is only a matter of time before cash will reach a tipping point that makes digital payments a requirement. The unstated assumption is that cash will end, and that digital is the future. There is an urgency, therefore, to make digital payments work.

The CBDC Conference will take place in Frankfurt 29-31 August 2022. Registration is open and there is a super saver 25% discount rate for those who register by 30 April – www.cbdc-conference.com.

The agenda of the Optical and Digital Document Security (ODDS) conference reflects increasing interest in getting cash to interact with smartphones and other devices. Four papers consider new approaches in this area.

Finance.ua, a Ukrainian financial media organisation, posted cash usage rates for Europe in 2019 based on Statista data and then compared it with a smaller selection of countries in 2020 and then 2021.

A recent webinar organised by Enryo, an independent consultancy, invited four experts to consider digital inclusion. Speakers addressed how to overcome the very real problem of proving identity and what needs to be done to accelerate digital inclusion.

A new agreement has been signed between the UK’s Post Office and 30 banks and building societies to allow customers to continue to access basic banking services in post offices.

The Beijing Winter Olympics has seen a third payment option be used at an Olympic Games for the first time since 1986 (when Visa got became the exclusive payment service provider alongside cash).

In 2020 Apple bought Mobeewave, a start-up working to enable contactless payments using smart phones. Bloomberg has reported that Apple will allow small businesses to use iPhones to accept payments ‘in the coming months’.

Cash Essentials recently ran the first in a series of ‘Cash Talks’ looking at access to cash with reports from AGE Platform Europe, the European Retail Payment Board (ERPB), the Dutch National Bank (DNB) and LINK.

For the first time in two centuries, since the establishment of central banks began, the definition of money is being reviewed. In that context Paul Wilson’s book – ‘Shades of Sovereignty: Money and the Making of the State’ – is a useful read.

A recent post highlighted how misleading the constant stream of headlines about a cashless society is. Going cashless makes for wonderfully shocking, attention-grabbing headlines.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) conducted a survey of 2,000 companies in the summer of 2021, representative of every industrial sector and region of Switzerland.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) needs explanation if it is to be more than a buzz word. A recent article in the Asian Cash Management Association (ACMA) journal by Joep Van den Brink from PlanFocus Software threw some light on it in the context of cash management.

While cash transactions in Japan have been declining for some time, albeit from a high base, the reduction in opportunities to pay in cash and the increased use of ‘stay at home consumption’ during the pandemic has accelerated this decline. At the same time the ratio of banknotes to GDP has risen very significantly.

The Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System has published a paper on the growth potential and impact on banking of stablecoins. The paper explores what stablecoins are, their risks and their possible uses, including a look at the future.