If a general can choose the battlefield, they can shape what happens next in the fight that follows. At the Future of Cash conference Brett Scott, the author, explained how the digital leaders have created and driven the story that digital is good and analogue is bad.

A new paper has looked at the cash in circulation in 17 economies between 2001 and 20221.

Japan has recently experienced a system failure that affected credit card payments at transportation hubs and shops.

A paper published by the Munich Personal RePEc Archive has carried out secondary research on Africa’s adoption of CBDCs.

It is unusual for a commercial bank to describe its cash strategy, and so it was particularly good to hear NatWest, one of the UK’s big four high street banks, do this at the Future of Cash conference in Istanbul.

The Future of Cash conference in Istanbul, which took place 6-8 November, saw some big conversations about cash today and its future. The mood was more upbeat than in recent years as transactional demand for cash has largely rebounded from the lows of the pandemic and the access to cash agenda has gathered pace in countries facing the reality of less cash.

The Future of Cash conference was one of those rare opportunities to step back and think. A series of experts presented data, research and conclusions from the real world about cash and its role in the payment hierarchy.

For countries experiencing ‘less cash’, it is becoming normal to measure the distance people must travel to access cash from an ATM, or in Canada’s case and automated banking machine (ABM), or branch of a financial institution. The Bank of Canada has released a paper describing its travel- based metric and the results.

One thought that came from the Future of Cash conference was the need to understand digital payments more. A recent conference paper from Vietnam does just that as it examines why people in the developing world move to digital payments by studying the uptake of mobile money services in Vietnam.

Uniquely amongst payment options, cash offers people payment privacy. A key part of the debate about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) is about the extent to which a CBDC can mimic the privacy achieved by cash. A new Bank for International Settlements (BIS) working paper considers designing CBDCs for privacy protection and data governance1.

Geldmaat runs the ATM network for the Netherland’s largest banks. This utility approach to ATM provision has strict service level agreements. Despite this the media in the Netherlands has reported that 5% of ATMs were broken at some point in September.

Mastercard’s CFO, speaking recently at a UBS conference, has raised issues with India’s Unified Payment Interface (UPI) system. Describing it as ‘fantastic at many levels’, he also said it was an ‘incredibly painful experience’ for its ecosystem participants.

Bancomat AB was registered in 1968 in Sweden, and it is the second oldest ATM operator in the world. It was incorporated in 2010 and is owned by Danske bank, Nordea, Handelsbanken, SEB, Swedbank and some savings banks.

Two recent pieces address the usefulness and role of CBDCs. One explores the theoretical benefits of a CBDC in a high inflation environment, the other the impact of a CBDC if a loss of confidence in the banking system leads to a run on the banks.

At the recent ATMIA Emerging Markets and Europe ATM and Cash Summit, the Dutch National Bank (DNB) presented on access to cash.

As noted in the summary of the recent Emerging Market and Europe ATM and Cash Summit in Dublin, the focus was on understanding the future of ATMs in a changing cash environment. As such there was a strong ‘Future of Cash’ feel to the agenda alongside more technical ATM perspectives and topics.

Geldmaat spoke at the ATMIA summit following on directly after the Dutch National Bank. It described how it came into being and the challenges it faces.

The Reserve Bank of Atlanta has made some observations about the Merchant Risk Council’s 2023 Global Ecommerce Payments and Fraud Report.

The Emerging Market and Europe ATM and Cash Summit in Dublin focused on the future role of ATMs in a changing world. In addition to the keynote speech by the Dutch National Bank, supported by a Geldmaat presentation, Bancomat from Sweden, LINK from the UK and the ECB also covered the changing role of cash.

The International Mint Industry Association (IMIA) has issued a position paper on the European Commission’s (EC) draft regulations on the legal tender of euro banknotes and coins. The paper also refers to the EC’s proposals about a possible digital euro. Although supportive of the initiative, the IMIA highlights a number of concerns.