Improving Cash Resilience in the Netherlands

At the Future of Cash conference in October, Roel van Anholt from the Dutch National Bank (DNB) explained the steps taken to strengthen cash resilience.

Accessibility: in the Netherlands, the Cash Covenant was signed in April 2022, setting minimum standards for cash access. The number of ATMs plateaued following the Covenant being approved and cash usage stabilised in about 2020.

Now the Cash Payments Act is going through the legislative process, setting similar standards as the Covenant. It is expected to become law in 2026. One change is that the distance to a source of cash is now measured as the crow flies rather than by road distance.

Availability: availability is covered in both the Covenant and the Cash Payments Act. The Covenant requires an uptime of 97.5% for ATMs. This requirement is not yet confirmed in the new legislation.