Euro Vision (But Not the Song Contest)

Doris Schneeberger, Head of the Currency Management Division at the European Central Bank (ECB), spoke at December’s RBR conference giving the Eurosystem perspective on trends and developments in the use of cash.

Her talk covered the rise in value and volume of euro banknotes over the last few years, and 2020 in particular. Her view was that, initially, the rise in demand for notes was driven by the banking system ensuring they had sufficient notes in stock, but that public demand then kicked in with people wanting to hold cash ‘just in case’. The €50 was the most popular note.

Cash in circulation continues to rise even now with issues still exceeding deposits. The ECB ‘expects the normalisation of banknote demand in the medium term.’ The presentation went on to look at the 2019 Study on Payment Attitudes of Consumers in the Euro Space and the July 2020 study of the impact of the pandemic on cash usage (both of which were covered in December edition of Cash & Payment News™).