News | Cash & Payment News

Martina Horakova

24 Sept. 2025

9 min read

Cash Payment Habits and Infrastructure for Resilience

In times of crisis, cash is increasingly recognised for its resilience. At an IMIA organised roundtable, Päivi Heikkinen (Head of Payment Systems Department and Chief Cashier, Bank of Finland), Matthias Schroth (Director of Cash Management Department, Oesterreichische Nationalbank – OeNB), and Koen Thuis (Head of Cash Policy & Oversight Department, De Nederlandsche Bank – DNB) discussed approaches to the future of cash infrastructure and the cash payment habit with the aim of preserving cash resilience.

Future of Cash Resilience

Guillaume Lepecq: Chair

24 Sept. 2025

2 min read

Switzerland: Cash to be Enshrined in the Constitution

Swiss lawmakers have unanimously voted to enshrine the right to use cash in the nation’s constitution.

Future of Cash Resilience

John Winchcombe

24 Sept. 2025

5 min read

Cash Initiatives Around the World

During a panel discussion at this summer’s Currency Technology Symposium, a number of speakers described their cash cycles and access to cash. While the Dutch National Bank (DNB) is insourcing cash processing as cash volumes fall, South Africa is working with stakeholders to manage the quality of notes in circulation, and Switzerland is collecting data to inform policy on maintaining access to cash. Furthermore, Prof Dr Barbara Brandl of Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, highlighted the need for access to both cash and digital money, to mitigate against inequalities that come with digital-only payments.

Future of Cash Resilience

John Winchcombe

24 Aug. 2025

6 min read

Have UK Payments Reached ‘Peak Digital’?

David Fagleman from Enryo, a financial services consultancy1, published an article in Finextra about a surprising shift in the UK payment landscape, a digital slowdown2. A number of countries have reported a stabilisation in cash usage, the most recent being Canada in its 2024 Methods of Payment Survey3, suggesting that there is a ‘bottom’ for cash usage.

Cash in Circulation Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

24 Aug. 2025

5 min read

The Fragility of Cash Resilience

Matt Sykes of the CPT Group in Australia, global experts in cash, payments and money systems, has written a review about whether cash can deliver on its role providing critical redundancy for national payment systems. They want to start a debate about whether the infrastructure that supports cash distribution deliver on this promise given the acute and growing strain it is under. Does a misalignment between policy assumptions and market realities risk rendering cash ineffective as a payment option in a crisis?

Free Future of Cash Resilience Free

Guillaume Lepecq

23 July 2025

5 min read

French And Swedish Action to Safeguard Cash

France’s National Payments Committee urges immediate action to secure future payments sovereignty amid rising geopolitical tensions. Cash is crucial for economic resilience, industrial autonomy and national sovereignty.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

30 June 2025

6 min read

America: Land of the Free (and Payment Choice?)

The Payment Choice Coalition (PCC) in the US is an initiative launched in July 2024 by a high-level group of executives from companies active in the cash cycle: Brinks, Davis Bancorp, Fifth Third Bank, G+D, Loomis, and Lowers Risk Group. It has since expanded to include NCR Atleos, Diebold Nixdorf, Western Union, Controltek, and Crane Payment Innovations.

Future of Cash

Guillaume Lepecq

28 April 2025

5 min read

OECD Highlights Need to Balance Digital Payments and Access to Cash

A new OECD paper highlights the importance of balancing digital innovation with the enduring need for cash. By adopting comprehensive policies and initiatives, governments can ensure that all segments of society have access to reliable and secure payment methods, fostering financial inclusion and stability in the digital age.

Future of Cash Studies, Reports

John Winchcombe

28 April 2025

2 min read

Ireland Passes Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure Bill

2024 European Central Bank (ECB) survey data found that about half of point- of-sale payments in Ireland were made using cash. The Finance (Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure) Bill has now been passed in Ireland to ‘provide for the continued provision of sufficient and effective access to cash infrastructure’. The new Act makes legal provision for the availability, operation, regulation and accessibility of ATM services and cash service points.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

26 March 2025

5 min read

Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective

This is the title of a recently published study that is the third and final module in a series of studies in Germany looking at the ‘Costs and Benefits of Cash and Cashless Payment Instruments’.

Cash Usage Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

28 Feb. 2025

5 min read

Future of Cash in Germany

On 5 February 2025, the Deutsche Bundesbank held its sixth cash symposium in Berlin. Around 120 participants from politics, industry and society attended.

Free Future of Cash Free

John Winchcombe

28 Feb. 2025

3 min read

UK Banks Quizzed About Payment Resilience

In the UK at the end of January Barclays Bank had a major IT outage, followed by HSBC, which meant customers could not use their online banking. At the same time Lloyds Bank and NatWest have announced even more bank branch closures and the UK government has confirmed it will not require retailers to accept cash payments.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

28 Feb. 2025

2 min read

How Important is the Singleness of Money?

The singleness of money is that principle that all different forms of money must have the same value at all times and be interchangeable at par and without cost. A criticism of regulators such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) and Bank of England (BoE) is that stablecoins may undermine the ‘singleness of money’.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

28 Jan. 2025

5 min read

NatWest Leads Brainstorm for a Response to Changing Cash

The use of coin dates back over 2,500 years, and in an industry that old, it can be difficult to do anything genuinely ‘new’. Hence the excitement when NatWest hosted what’s believed to be the first ever cash hackathon at their London HQ in late November, with attendees from a range of industries, to innovate on future payment methods, and reimagine the future of cash.

Free Future of Cash Free

John Winchcombe

26 Dec. 2024

4 min read

Maintaining Cash On Europe’s Agenda

At the Coin Conference in Lisbon Martina Horakova, Managing Director, International Mint Industry Association (IMIA), presented European Economic Area legislations and proposals ‘in favour’ of cash access and acceptance.

Future of Cash

29 Nov. 2024

4 min read

Research Based Campaigning for Cash

Pascal Wicht, Strategic Designer at SICPA, presented at October’s ATMIA conference on the social role of cash, particularly for Gen Z. This work forms part of the International Currency Associations (ICA) programme of understanding and advocating for cash by going beyond the pure retail and payment functions of cash.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

29 Nov. 2024

5 min read

Moving Beyond Neutrality: Now is the Time for Action

In September Franz Seitz and Gerhard Rösl published a paper laying out the challenges and risks faced by cash in countries moving to being less cash societies. It is a tour de force providing both facts and arguments about what can be done. It provides the context and the arguments for the future of cash discussions heard at every conference this autumn – ATMIA, Coin, Retail Branch Transformation, High Security Print.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

29 Nov. 2024

4 min read

Enhancing the Resilience of the Cash Infrastructure

At the ATMIA Europe & Emerging Markets conference in October Thierry Lebeaux, Secretary General of the European Security Transport Association (ESTA) presented about the impact of less cash in the euro area on the cash in transit industry. Dr Rüdiger Voss also presented on the European Commission Euro protection and euro cash.

Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

18 April 2024

4 min read

The New Cash Paradox

The end of the ‘cash era’, announced by The Economist 15 years ago, has not arrived. On the contrary, in a contactless but crisis-ridden world, cash is leaving wallets and taking refuge in mattresses. This article from Marc Schwartz, Chairman and CEO of Monnaie de Paris, was first published by Cash Essentials.

Cash Usage Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

26 March 2024

6 min read

Nexus Between Payments Digitisation and Cash Usage in the Philippines

Innovation in contactless payment technology, the COVID-19 pandemic, increased e-commerce, and enhanced transparency, security, and convenience have transformed the retail payment markets in the last few years.

Cash Usage Future of Cash

Latest News

Cash Payment Habits and Infrastructure for Resilience

Switzerland: Cash to be Enshrined in the Constitution

Cash Initiatives Around the World

Have UK Payments Reached ‘Peak Digital’?

The Fragility of Cash Resilience

French And Swedish Action to Safeguard Cash

America: Land of the Free (and Payment Choice?)

OECD Highlights Need to Balance Digital Payments and Access to Cash

Ireland Passes Provision of Access to Cash Infrastructure Bill

Costs of Cash and Card Payments from a Consumer Perspective

Future of Cash in Germany

UK Banks Quizzed About Payment Resilience

How Important is the Singleness of Money?

NatWest Leads Brainstorm for a Response to Changing Cash

Maintaining Cash On Europe’s Agenda

Research Based Campaigning for Cash

Moving Beyond Neutrality: Now is the Time for Action

Enhancing the Resilience of the Cash Infrastructure

The New Cash Paradox

Nexus Between Payments Digitisation and Cash Usage in the Philippines

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