In September 2020 Reconnaissance Consulting Group was asked to consider what would happen to cash at a future moment where the world economy and society had re-opened living with COVID.

The Optical Document Security and Digital Document Security conferences have now been combined into one ‘super-conference’, Optical & Digital Document Security (ODDS).

Financial crime, particularly digital financial crime, can feel victimless. The losses are factored into the fees and charges which are passed on in higher prices and the press seldom focus on the distress and stress caused to individuals faced with criminal activity.

The Dutch National Bank (DNB) has written to the Dutch House of Representatives presenting its report, ‘The Future of Cash Infrastructure in the Netherlands’. The DNB commissioned a study from McKinsey in December last year as the basis for this report.

This is a reflection on 12 months as Editor of Cash & Payment News™ (CPN), writing about the payment environment and the role of cash. With the impact of the pandemic providing the backdrop, a number of themes are evident.

Both Switzerland and the US are big users of cash. Here we report on surveys that show change is happening.

The Bundesbank held its international cash conference in June 2021 on the topic of ‘Cash in Times of Turmoil’. The future of cash was extensively explored alongside the impact of the pandemic on cash usage and consumer behaviour.

As a reminder, CBDC announcements were made in May relating to Brazil, Georgia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Norway, Pakistan and Russia and in June to Indonesia, Korea, Mauritius, South Africa and Thailand.

A number of states and cities in the US have implemented or are considering legislation to make cash acceptance at retailers mandatory.

China has decided to stop cryptocurrency mining in the interests of financial stability. Mining is the process that validates cryptocurrency transactions by solving cryptographic puzzles in return for receiving newly minted coins.

Enryo, the payment consultancy, addressed the ‘cash paradox’ in a recent piece in Finextra.

Two articles recently cast a different light on financial inclusion. The first published by Cash Essentials and written by Manuel A. Bautista-González of Colombia University about cash in Mexico and the second published in the Irish Times. Very different stories but interesting perspectives on using less cash.

On 11 June the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) opened its latest Innovation Hub Centre in London following on from hubs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Switzerland that have already been established. Canada, Frankfurt and Paris, Stockholm, supported by all of the Scandinavian central banks, and New York are planned to open in due course.

In the last week there have been a number of payment related stories. What links them all is that they demonstrate that electronic payments face a range of challenges that have a direct impact on customers. The role of the regulator is evident in all of them whether requiring action or ‘guiding’ providers to take action.

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) issued its working paper 3/2021 ‘How to issue a central bank digital currency’. Written by David Chaum, Christian Grothoff and Thomas Moser, the paper presents the SNB’s thinking about a token-based retail CBDC, a rather different approach from most other central banks.

Cryptocurrencies are almost all built on two different approaches – proof-of-work or proof-of-state.

A shortage of EMV chips is creating real risks for payments since these chips enable ATM cash withdrawals and all forms of digital payments.

Ralph Wintergerst, CEO of the G+D Group, has recently written an article published in the International Banker magazine. The article’s title is ‘Britain needs a digital central bank currency’, but in fact the article is an explanation of why any central bank needs a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Over the past year Currency Research has successfully pivoted to deliver online virtual events across its portfolio, with approximately 50 live and on-demand sessions reaching over 3,000 industry participants across the cash and payments industries.

Jens Eberhardt, Managing Director of Cashinfrapro, has written a useful paper – ‘Green Cash Logistics’ – which considers how modern ways of working can reduce the environmental impact of the cash cycle.