Recent Developments in the Euro Cash Cycle

Speaking at the ATMIA’s Europe and Emerging Markets summit, Benjamin Sahel from the European Central Bank (ECB) quoted Christine Lagarde, President of the ECB, and Piero Cipollone, member of the ECB’s Executive Board, to reassure the audience that the ECB sees cash as indispensable and will ensure it remains available and easy to use.

Bulgaria joins the Eurosystem at the end of this year, bringing the number of countries using the euro to 21, with 357 million people.

Considerable work has been, and is being, done to understand what the euro is being used for.

• 28-50% store of value
• 20-22% transactions
• 30-50% held abroad.

After a period when cash was hoarded due to the pandemic (2020-21), a change to positive interest rates led to a period of de-hoarding (2022-23). Now cash use has stabilised.