Europe

In the latest update of Sweden’s fight for cash, things are looking positive as government is likely to enact proposed legislation that will force banks to offer cash withdrawals.

For years now, Sweden has been considered to be at the vanguard of the global race for the complete elimination of cash.  Sweden has seen a constant decline in the value of cash in circulation since 2008.  However, quite unexpectedly the downward trend was reversed in May 2018 and cash in circulation has been growing since.

According to a study by the European Central Bank, France is one of the countries least attached to cash in the euro area. If they could choose, only 17% of French people would use cash over various non-cash payment methods.

Bank of France data shows a significant growth in demand for the euro, up 7.6% in 2017 compared to 2016. This is explained by cash's more versatile role of being both store of value and means of exchange.

Cyprus could be the first country to use the EMV biometric dual interface payment card if the pilot project launched by the Bank of Cyprus results to be successful.

Governments are taking measures to safeguard cash and strengthen the cash cycle realizing the vital role it plays in society.

The opacity of growing scheme fees and the risks of a system failure should get people to start thinking about the costs of society's growing dependency on card schemes.

Visa experience a major system failure on June 1st, causing havoc for consumers and merchants across Europe. Time to diversify payments?

According to the Deutsche Bundesbank survey on "Payment behaviour in Germany in 2017", cash is by far the most widely used payment instrument and accounts for 74% of transactions in volume and 48 % in value.

Sweden's central bank is scrambling to reevaluate its legislation as cash usage continues to drop in the Scandinavian country.

Germans' love for cash might as well be linked to their pragmatism and not at all to nostalgia.

Interviewed by Bloomberg, Yves Mersch explains why central banks are closely following the evolution of virtual currencies and what the implications are should they continue to grow in popularity.