Australia

Queen Elizabeth II’s passing marked the beginning of a complex redesign and updating of banknotes and coins in the United Kingdom and many countries worldwide.

Prosegur Cash and Armaguard Group announce a merger deal agreement to create a sustainable and secure Australian cash in transit business.

Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across the eastern coast of Australia. Cash management companies, ATM deployers, and banks mobilised to ensure access to cash in flood-hit areas.

Cash Welcome, an industry-backed organisation giving a voice to those who trust and rely on cash, is launching a campaign featuring students, young parents and influencers explaining how they use cash to set a budget and save for specific goals.

The Reserve Bank is seeking views from interested parties on what changes might be required to ensure that banknote distribution is effective, efficient, sustainable and resilient – both now and into the future.

Although the world of contactless payments has exploded in Australia, for some cash remains the payment method of choice.

A controversial law that would have banned cash payments over $10,000 has been voted out by the Australian Senate. Many saw it as infringing on the freedom to use cash and to protect one’s financial privacy.

The dual role of currency both as a store of wealth and means of payment has never been more apparent, as the numbers that report cash on issue and cash use remain dramatically different.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a steady flow of disinformation has distorted the role cash may play in spreading Covid-19. Now, Australia’s national science agency has published a controversial study suggesting that the virus could survive up to 28 days on banknotes in strict laboratory conditions. However, the study’s lead author, confusingly, is minimizing the infection risk presented in his own work.

The Royal Australian Mint is launching the donation dollar, aimed at encouraging Australians to donate for charity. The Mint plans to produce one for every Australian.

Despite the time lag – the payments figures just reported by the Reserve Bank of Australia are for activity in the month of May – the stellar cash circulation figures contrast starkly with the much weaker cash transaction numbers. Cash use in Australia has a long and uncertain road to recovery. This can also be said of other payment methods, as well as the wider economy.

Set against the profound health and economic consequences of the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Reserve Bank of Australia’s reporting that at the end of April, the Australian Dollar currency in circulation hit a new all-time high, in part fueled by a large jump in Australian Dollar $50 and $100 banknotes issued at the end of March 2020. In fact, in the month of March currency in circulation grew by $2,200 million, the 15th largest single monthly rise on record and the highest (by value) March increase ever.