Future of Cash – Today’s Challenges, Tomorrow’s Opportunities

The last year has accelerated a number of payment trends, with the cash ‘paradox’ to the fore (cash in circulation up, cash transactions down). The Future of Cash conference laid out and explained the growing pressure on cash but also gave good data, examples and food for thought about opportunities for the future.

With international travel still interrupted, a virtual Future of Cash conference was held online ahead of the real thing 9-10 November in Madrid. The conference was structured with four sessions over two days.

The first session set the scene with presentations from the Bank of Spain, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Dutch National Bank (DNB). The impact of the pandemic on cash in Europe was described and the DNB gave the context and plan for their detailed study, in conjunction with McKinsey, investigating future options for cash given its sharp decline in the Netherlands.

Across Europe cash usage is varied, but virtually all countries have seen significant changes in the past 12 months. The ECB’s surveys gave rich detail of all this, with less cash a clear trend.

The second session, ‘The World After’, fittingly picked up from the second session to consider possible future scenarios. Demos Helsinki fed back on the work done in the May 2020 workshops. Alex Bau described the situation in the US based on their own survey work, and how the Federal Reserve is responding. Glory talked through what they describe as Cash 4.0, and the earlier phases, giving good detail about how innovation can support efficient and safe cash handling that works for consumers and retailers.

Session three went deeper into the ‘Next Gen Cash Cycle’. The European Payment Council presentation was rich in detail, giving a data driven understanding of why cash recirculation is so important. Ron Delnevo echoed this with a focus on driving down costs by keeping things local. BNP Paribas Polska described the reality of running an ATM system both generally, but particularly in the last year. Finally, the British Retail Consortium gave a seldom heard voice, that of the retailer. ‘Don’t assume that cashback will work unless the retailer gets an income’ was one clear message.

The final session was about ‘CashTech’, a term first coined by Guillaume Lepecq, the conference Chairman. Four companies presented their solutions – viafintech, Shrap, Sonect and OneBanks.

Viafintech and Sonect work to make cash available, although with different solutions and business models. Shrap offers a solution that every mint in the world will loathe, an alternative to coins. And OneBanks looks to offer a branch kiosk that is bank agnostic for supported transactional bank branch activities.

The flow of the agenda worked well, providing a coherent story of today’s cash challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities. Each session had excellent question and answer sessions led by Paul Blond and Guillaume, with enough time to address all questions properly and carefully.

It may not have been face to face, but this was time well spent.

For those who didn't attend the Future of Cash, it is available to view on-demand (for a fee). Visit thefutureofcash.com to find out more.

Details of the programme for the next event, in Madrid in November, will be available shortly.