As the use of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) based on blockchain grows, it is worth returning to an old story reported in an MIT Technology Review in February 2019.

While the activity of retailers may, at first glance, appear of secondary importance to the world of payments, in today’s changing economic landscape it could have big implications, particularly when retailers of the scale of Walmart are involved and with card and payment fees rising.

Gerhard Rösel and Franz Seitz have published a paper, ‘Cash and Crises: No Surprises by the Virus’, as a working paper for the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability. This paper looks at cash usage across a number of key economies since the 1990s. It notes the trend towards cash being hoarded as a store of value, reflected an increasing proportion of cash in circulation being high value notes, but looks, in particular, at what happens to cash when there is crisis.

With the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank announcing the world’s first CBDC based on blockchain technology, the CBDC activity level around the world continues to grow.

At the online Future of Cash conference last month, Diederik Bruggink from the European Payment Council (EPC) presented its thoughts on how to make cash more efficient.

Google Pay is changing. The existing Google Pay will shut down in the US on 5 April and a new app has to be downloaded if you want to continue paying with Google on your phone.

The number of central banks announcing work on Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) continues to rise. This month there have been reports about CBDC activity by the central banks of the ECCB, Jamaica, Korea and Russia.

Alper Sayin, Director Cash Planning and Operations at Garanti BBVA, has summarised the key cash and payment trends facing Turkey in 2021. Cash is increasing but cost control remains high on the agenda, with new cash processing tools being used and an ATM pooling initiative being closely monitored.

Wales, with a population 3.15 million, along with England 56.3 million, Scotland 5.46 million and Northern Ireland 1.89 million make up UK’s total population of 66.8 million. Although all countries in the Union are governed by the UK government based in Westminster in London, Wales along with Scotland and Northern Ireland each has a devolved Parliament with limited powers.

The Bank of Canada conducted studies into cash usage in April and July 2020*. This March it updated its staff discussion paper 2021-23 reflecting on these surveys and what they tell us about cash as pandemic containment measures lift.

RBR’s most recent study, ‘ATM Software 2021’, looks at the latest ATM developments across the world.

In 2016 Diebold and Wincor Nixdorf joined forces to form Diebold Nixdorf, creating a company with global reach in the self-service market. Diebold Nixdorf serves retailers and retail banks providing ATM and point of sale (POS) technology and software to run and integrate the technology and behind the scenes payment platforms. It also offers management services for all these products.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has reorganised to combine its cash department and its payment department.

In 2020 US consumers each spent $17,095 according to the US census bureau, $2,398 of which was online. CouponFollow surveyed 1,500 Americans in January 2021 about the state of cashless and touchless payment methods during the pandemic.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover Financial, as well as industry counterparts FIS, Fiserv and Global Payments, have formed the Payments Leadership Council to represent their position to the government and in the media on a range of issues. Card payments are in the spotlight currently.

A recent paper, ‘COVID Cash*’, by Kenneth Rogoff and Jessica Scazzero considers the implications for advanced economies in the long-term trend of value being stored in cash, a trend accelerated by, and highly visible due to, the pandemic. They make two arguments.

On 26 January the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave its judgement on the Hessischer Rundfunk case.

In October 2020 the Federal Reserve’s national Cash Product Office (CPO), with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, conducted the annual Diary of Consumer Payment Choice survey.

If Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) do not solve a real problem, then they will fail. In a recent paper by Peter Bofinger and Thomas Haas, Professor for Monetary Policy and International Economics and Research Associate and Chair for Monetary Policy and International Economics respectively at the University of Wurzbürg, they throw doubt on whether central banks have found a compelling need for CBDCs.

The Dhaka Tribune reports that between March and the end of November 2020, the number of Cash Recycling Machines (CRMs) increased from 266 to 684 in an attempt to make branches less crowded and to lower costs since less cash loading and replenishment of ATMs is needed, along with reduced cash movements, sorting and handling.