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During the Covid-19 pandemic, Mexicans did not switch en masse to CoDi, the central bank’s mobile payments platform launched in 2019. Cash continues to dominate retail payments.

U.S. retail giant Walmart has partnered with fintechs PayNearMe and Green Dot to provide its customers with a new way to pay their bills in cash at its 4,000 stores starting in August.

Myanmar (Burma) is facing a severe cash shortage as the central bank is not providing sufficient cash to meet demand. Queues are growing at ATMs and bank branches, raising fears of a banking crisis.

As global payments revenues exceed $2 trillion or 2.2% of the world's GDP, a growing number of stakeholders are vying to capture market share. Can cash compete in the new space race?

E.U. Financial Services Commissioner Mairead McGuiness has announced measures against money laundering, including limits to cash payments above €10,000. In 2018, the European Commission ruled against such limitations.

A survey by the Mexican central bank shows that transactional demand for cash declined during the pandemic. Still, most respondents choose cash as their preferred means of payment.

In December 2020, the Global Cash Community joined forces in an initiative called HUMANIA to support the people who have been most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. HUMANIA launched a currency design initiative, inviting designers to capture a moment from the pandemic and depict it in banknotes or coins.

An increasing number of central banks are intensifying research on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Theoretical papers assume that CBDC should emulate the features of cash and that the former would complement rather than substitute the latter. But is this feasible?

Big and small retailers around the UK have made a public commitment to accept cash as a method of payment by signing up to the Which? Cash Friendly pledge. Meanwhile, banks commit to supporting access to cash.

Santander and Prosegur Cash launch an in-store digital cash management solution in Spain that pays cash directly into bank accounts and saves companies time with cash management.

In Mexico, cashless payments' advocates have seized on the Covid-19 pandemic to nudge consumers away from cash. But they conveniently forget the exceptional levels of financial exclusion in the country.

Bank hubs jointly operated by the 5 leading banks and the Post Office are the latest U.K. initiative to ensure access to cash services for individuals and businesses in a viable way. Eight pilots are currently being trialled across the U.K.