Future of Cash

The Facebook-led Diem Association is selling its assets putting an end to the social media’s controversial ambitions in digital money and payments, and a two-and-a-half-year battle with regulators and central banks across the globe.

In the third episode of the Cash and Crises podcast series, James Shepherd-Barron sits down with Tristan Dissaux, Researcher at Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management, to discuss the meaning of financial inclusion and its importance in society.

In the second episode of the Cash and Crises podcast series, James Shepherd-Barron sits down with Diederik Bruggink, Head of Innovation and Payments at the World Savings and Retail Banking Institute, to discuss why the cash cycle matters and its implications for developing economies.

The Euro Retail Payments Board report finds that both access and acceptance of cash are broadly ensured throughout the euro area but are deteriorating. The paper identified specific issues related to access to and acceptance of cash and recommends monitoring this in the future to ensure that cash remains an inclusive, efficient and sustainable means of payment.

Glitches marred the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, causing anger and anxiety to customers and retailers.

El Salvador has become the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, hoping to increase financial inclusion. Critics fear it will become a vigilance tool for the government.

In the first episode of the Cash and Crises podcast series, James Shepherd-Barron sits down with Guillaume Lepecq, the chairman of CashEssentials, to discuss the future of cash and its implications for developing economies.

The recent Future of Cash online event focused on the Asia-Pacific region. It showed how some of the traditional roles of cash have been significantly impacted by the pandemic and looked into how central banks and other cash cycle stakeholders are planning plausible scenarios for the future of cash.

Following the success of the Future of Cash online event in February 2021, we will be continuing the conversation on 6 & 7 July and providing a coherent story of today’s cash challenges and tomorrow’s opportunities.

A new CashEssentials White paper challenges the notion of a singular digital future for money. It frames the discussion around the future of cash not only as a technological issue, but as a societal question with fundamental implications for inclusion, equality, resilience, efficiency and privacy.