Conference Updates
Almost Time for the CBDC Conference
The CBDC Conference takes place 29-31 August in Frankfurt. The speaker list and agenda are published, and it promises a full overview of projects, progress and prospects for retail and wholesale CBDCs.
The organisers have announced there will be over 50 speakers, including over 25 central banks and Bank for International Settlement (BIS) representatives. Alongside the central banks are contributors from technology vendors, policy makers, banking associations and others. The Financial Stability Board and European Commission will provide their views too.
The published list of central bank speakers includes four with live CBDCs – Nigeria, Jamaica, Bahamas and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank.
It also includes many central banks who are active participants in both wholesale and retail CBDC projects with the BIS Innovation hubs, for example England, France, Germany, South Africa, Switzerland, Sweden, Israel, the US, Canada, Japan and Thailand. In addition to these, the mix of central banks spans the world across South America, North America, the Caribbean, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Asia.
The conference starts with a series of pre-conference workshops on the morning of the first conference day for those who would like to learn more about CBDC through real-life examples and case studies.
Future of Cash Conference Agenda Set
Alongside a strong speaker link up, the Future of Cash conference in Madrid (14-16 September) has an agenda that includes a research seminar on the cost of payments, a futures literacy lab on the role of cash in the future monetary landscape and CashTech round tables and CashTech Innovation awards.
With presentations from the central banks of Spain, the European Central Bank, Finland and the US, the agenda assesses where cash is right now. It also includes a strong ‘cash cycle’ element with Erste Bank talking about cash self-service recycling, the Bank of Italy talking about the cash supply chain, the Bank of Belgium on its new cash centre and two experts talking about innovation in African cash cycles and the importance of the Next Gen ATMIA initiative.
The central banks of Germany and New Zealand, along with the European Retail Payments Board, report on access to and acceptance of cash and lay out their thinking about where cash is going.
There is more, but the agenda delivers on the purpose of the conference, looking to understand and shape the future of cash.
New Conference Launches in Central Asia
Currency Research is holding a new event – The Silk Road Conference on Cash and Payments: The Future of Money. This takes places 3-5 October in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The conference is co-hosted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
The conference will have two separate sessions, one for cash and one for payments. Payment topics will include cross-border payments, modernising payment infrastructures and CBDCs. A range of coin and banknote topics will be covered including design, specification and production, efficiency, optimisation and automation of processing and circulation and sustainability.
The aim of the conference is to allow those living in the Central Asia region to meet, share and learn about the latest trends and developments concerning cash and payments.
All Set for the Coin Conference
The Coin Conference takes place in Amsterdam 17-19 October. Given the last Coin Conference was in 2019, it is not surprising that the agenda is busy and full of substance.
The conference starts with two workshops. The first is presented by the Mint Directors Conference (MDC) Customer Task Force looking at the key issues and latest priorities for circulating coins, including their role in the cash cycle in times of crisis and the needs of the public. The second focuses on coins and the environment. This is in three parts, central banks talking about their priorities in this area, producers sharing their Environment, Social and Governance work and a look at what technology can offer.
The main agenda is wide ranging. The programme starts by taking an overview of coins before moving on to the main themes. The first day considers policy and operational issues such as demand and circulation, forecasting and denominational structures. The second day looks at sustainability, technology and digitisation. A few examples of papers are; co-operating to mitigate excess coin stocks (Bank of Portugal), new initiatives for an efficient coin cycle (Bank of Spain), removing low denomination coins from circulation (Casa de Moneda de Chile) and the findings of a study into the environmental impact of cash versus digital payments (MDWG (Europe)).
This gives a flavour of what the 33 speaker sessions cover but there is substance and interest across the whole spectrum of coin issues.
Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum™ Starts to Take Shape
The agenda for the Cash & Payments Sustainability Forum, which takes place 14-16 November in Edinburgh, is starting to take shape across the key themes of doing Environment, Social and Governance well, procurement and tenders, staff engagement, getting to zero waste, getting to net zero carbon and managing the cash cycle better, including a technology focus.
A seminar on 14 November is now in place. NatWest bank, UK Finance, Vaultex and Loomis will present about how the UK cash industry is working co-operatively to reduce plastic usage, waste, fossil fuel use, carbon emissions and moving to renewable energy. Since September 2020, 30 organisations have met voluntarily on almost a monthly basis to make a difference. This is a fascinating example which could work anywhere.
Speakers from outside the cash and payments industry are confirmed to speak on life cycle analysis, buying renewable energy, carbon offsetting and the cost of environmentalism. Within the industry a diverse range of organisations have already agreed to speak, and the programme will continue to develop. The call for papers is open until 11 September.
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