The Bundesbank has published the third module of its study into the costs of cash and card payments from the consumer’s point of view.

The headlines in the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2024 study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) paint an interesting picture for cash payments, both alone and relative to other payment instruments.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has published the results of its consultation on a possible CBDC. The consultation had the highest response rate of any RBNZ survey, with more than 500 individuals and groups writing in, as well as 18,000 online survey responses.

At the Coin Conference in Lisbon Martina Horakova, Managing Director, International Mint Industry Association (IMIA), presented European Economic Area legislations and proposals ‘in favour’ of cash access and acceptance.

While the United States and Brazil debate the use of bitcoin in their international reserves, the Banco Central de Chile, in line with its Governor's firm commitment to cash, categorically rules out this possibility, arguing that crypto assets do not meet the legal or technical criteria for their inclusion.

Programmable payments are often talked about in the context of Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), but they are possible with any digital payment. The Federal Reserve of Atlanta has written a useful blog explaining them.

Access to cash has become a key area of interest for central banks. The Bank of Canada has compared subjective perceptions of cash accessibility with distance based metrics and published their findings in a staff analytical note.

The Bank of England (BOE) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Digital Currency Initiative (MIT DCI) have published a paper exploring privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) for a possible digital pound.

Mobile money transactions in Kenya surged to KSh6.5 trillion in the first nine months of 2024, reflecting a 13.2% growth compared to KSh5.8 trillion during the same period last year.

The European Central Bank (ECB) is half-way through its assessment work about whether to launch a CBDC. This has involved extensive consultation. It has published its second progress report on its preparation phase of a digital euro.

While the revolution in information and communication technology, the emergence of China as a global manufacturing exporter, and the expansion of global value chains in the 1980s started a new phase of globalisation, the relatively recent rise in e-commerce and direct-to-customer sales, facilitated by online retail platforms, is leading to a new feature of international trade, namely an increase in the number of low-value transactions.

At the 2024 Association for Financial Professionals national conference in the US treasurers from Starbucks, Staples and Inspire Brands (who run a number of US restaurant chains) explained the benefits of using smart safes for cash management.

Bank Indonesia (BI) has published a paper on a technical proof of concept (PoC) for a wholesale CBDC (wCBDC). BI had compared R3’s Corda enterprise blockchain and Ethereum-based Hyperledger Besu, but the report did not make a definitive choice at this stage.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has written a paper investigating who is underserved when it comes to digital payments, the starting point for working out how to include them in today’s digital economy.

Russia’s Ministry of Industry wants a two year transition before mandatory adoption of a digital ruble. It is concerned that the necessary infrastructure is not ready. It is currently planned to become mandatory for large retailers by July 2025.

The European Commission is preparing to introduce new rules on cash payments in order to fight against money laundering.

A Norges Bank survey estimates only 3% of consumers pay with cash, although more would do so if shops would accept cash. Norges Bank and the government have recently added an amendment to the Central Bank Act that clarifies consumers’ right to pay with cash up to an amount of 20,000 kroner.

The US regulator, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), wants to extend its regulatory scrutiny to include tech giants such as Apple and Google and their digital payment apps and wallets.

The Deputy Governor of Norges Bank, Pal Longva, has said that Norway has ‘no urgency’ around its digital currency initiatives. Norway has completed four stages of CBDC investigation. It is now concentrating on applications of wholesale CBDCs in a fifth phase of work to be completed by the end of 2025.

At the ATMIA Europe & Emerging Markets conference in October Thierry Lebeaux, Secretary General of the European Security Transport Association (ESTA) presented about the impact of less cash in the euro area on the cash in transit industry. Dr Rüdiger Voss also presented on the European Commission Euro protection and euro cash.