Retailers

As the banking sector continues to shut down branches and ATMs across Europe, cash automation solutions provide a significant opportunity for banks to partner with consumer businesses and become the agents of change of a rapidly transforming cash cycle.

Proposals from the financial services watchdog to protect and widen cash access are "a good start but could go further" argues the Federation of Small Businesses. Cash infrastructure should be considered a public good.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will launch and fund trials to test new ways for consumers and merchants to withdraw and deposit cash, including coins, at little or no cost.

A new report suggests that almost three out of four Canadians believe that refusing cash in grocery stores is discriminatory towards the unbanked and underbanked.

New York City passed a cashless ban in February 2020 to protect the right of consumers to pay in cash, including those from unbanked households.

By removing frictions and the pain to pay, digital payments increase consumer spending, particularly on unhealthy foods.

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.

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.

Cash demonstrated its resilience in the aftermath of snowstorm Uri in Texas, amid widespread power outages, electronic payments failure, and the shutdown of financial infrastructure.

A recent report from the Colombian retail trade federation shed light on whether the public’s use of cash declined after the Covid-19 pandemic. The results are clear: cash is still the favourite means of payment for Colombian consumers.

Using data from a continuous household consumption survey, economists Renuka Sane and Ajay Shah analyse both the levels of household borrowing as well as the sources of lending. They conclude that fewer households borrow but more rely on family and friends as well as shops.

The pilot, jointly spearheaded by Link and PayPoint, enables consumers to make free cash withdrawals from participating convenience stores and is part of Link’s efforts to maintain access to cash in remote locations and in the most deprived areas in the UK.