Cash

Over the past two years (2023–2025), the world has faced persistent geopolitical conflicts, economic volatility, and climate-related disruptions. In such an environment, cash, gold, and cryptocurrencies have all experienced increased demand—not for transactional purposes, but as stores of value in times of uncertainty.

Visa and Mastercard are ramping up efforts to win over German consumers, leveraging global marketing muscle with locally resonant campaigns. Despite Germany’s traditionally cash-centric culture, both brands are pushing to shift perceptions and boost card usage through storytelling, sponsorships, and advertising.

It’s the holiday season—a time for joy, cheer, and Christmas gifts. The perennial dilemma reappears every year: gift or cash? Economic utility vs sentimental value: it's a debate as old as time.

Elsewhere on the Web provides updates and links to articles related to cash, money and payments curated on the web.

The Future of Cash Conference will take place in Warsaw, Poland, from November 3-5, 2025, bringing together key stakeholders from across the cash community to explore innovative strategies for shaping the future of the cash cycle. This event will unite experts from central banks, financial institutions, retailers, cash management companies, technology providers, and suppliers to address the evolving role of cash in the global economy.

Cash is embedded in our cultures: writers, painters, sculptors, film directors.. All use banknotes and coins as inspiration for their work and also as a substrate for their art. Cash is also a major source of inspiration for musicians all over the world. Here is my playlist.

The end of the "cash era", announced by The Economist fifteen years ago, has not arrived. On the contrary, in a contactless but crisis-ridden world, cash is leaving wallets and taking refuge in mattresses.

Over the past few months, outages have brought down card payments in France (Wordline), Spain (Redsys), the U.K. (HSBC), Colombia (Bancaída), Uruguay (Fiserv) and now Australia (Wordline), to name but a few. Lloyds of London has warned that a major cyberattack on the global payments system could cost the world economy USD3.5 trillion. Can cash come to the rescue?

As the holiday season approaches, the age-old question of whether to give cash or gifts becomes increasingly relevant. Beyond the joy of giving, this decision holds economic and environmental implications that are worth considering.

Cash dominates in Pakistan. However, digital technologies and financial inclusion are transforming payments. This article analyzes the current use of cash, explores the factors influencing its demand, and assesses possible future scenarios.

Cash is the most widely used and accepted payment instrument in Spain, according to a recent survey from the Banco de España. Very few people and retailers know about the digital euro.

Many seniors and people living with disabilities find it easier to use cash as opposed to card and digital payments.