Cash data sources
Issue data tells us how many new notes and coins the issuing authority is putting into circulation. Issue data is an indicator for suppliers about how much cash central banks are using. It also gives us an indication of economic activity, which is often looked at alongside indicators of general economic activity. Issue data is not usually published by issuing authorities.
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Public Discourse on Cash
In a recent paper – Public Discourse on Retail Payments and the Case of CBDC (SAFE Working Paper No. 474, April 2026) – Ulrich Bindseil, former Director General of Market Infrastructure and Payments at the European Central Bank, analyses how stakeholders in the retail payments industry shape public debates and policymaking. His focus is primarily on digital payments, particularly CBDCs, which he argues have triggered unprecedented public debate. Notably, while central banks’ mandate to issue cash is acknowledged, the broader discussion on the role of cash in retail payments is largely omitted.
Danes Value Cash But Pay Digitally
Danmarks Nationalbank has published a paper about cash use in Denmark. The paper draws on the results of the latest survey of citizens’ payment habits, which took place in the autumn of 2025 – the latest in a series that started in 2017.
Cash Use Falls Back Slightly in the US
Results of the US Survey of Consumer Payment Choice (SCPC) and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice (DCPC) have been published by the Federal Reserve Banks of Atlanta and Boston and Federal Reserve Financial Services1. The DCPC, in which consumers record details of specific transactions (including dollar values) and their payment choices, was conducted in October 2025.
Cash In Circulation: Useful or a Blind Alley?
Economists, including those at central banks, and academics track, analyse and use cash in circulation (CIC) data extensively. What does it tell them and is it really useful for ‘cash stakeholders’ (anybody working to provide, manage and circulate cash)?
Japan’s Plans for Digital Currency
Ryozo Himino, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Japan, recently spoke about the singleness of money and the role of central banks. In his speech he noted the divergent approaches being taken by the US and Europe (GENIUS Act and the digital euro), stating that they may not serve as a model for Japan to follow given that they are heading in different directions, limiting the room for global consensus standards to emerge. Also, unlike the dollar, the yen is not the world’s key currency and Japan is an individual nation state with its own currency that is not a tool for regional integration.
More Cash, Less Speed: Reading the Signals on Cash Health in Asia
Currency in circulation (CIC) is often the first data point that is referred to when considering where cash is going and the health of cash systems. And on this measure, there are positive signs across many Asian markets. In an initial sample of eight economies, CIC grew between 45% and 349% over the period 2016 to 2024. In these markets, all have seen CIC grow in every year except Malaysia (0.2% decline in 2022, otherwise growth) and Australia (1.6% decline in 2023, current CIC is at an all-time high).
CB+DC Conference Comes to Europe
Following its recent Malaysian event, the next CB+DC Conference takes place 27-29 October in Amsterdam. Given that the US has just banned any prospect of a retail, or even wholesale, CBDC before 2030 in the same week that the European Parliament is pressing ahead with a digital euro, the timing and location of this event is right in the midst of the debate.
News in Brief
The UK Government has commissioned an independent review to examine the impact of bank branch closures.
CBDC News
In an Act about housing supply, the US Senate included a ban on the Federal Reserve issuing or creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC), or any substantially similar distributed ledger technology (DLT) based digital asset, until the end of 2030, including via intermediaries. The bill now goes back to the House of Representatives.
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