‘Cash in Times of Turmoil’

The Bundesbank held its international cash conference in June 2021 on the topic of ‘Cash in Times of Turmoil’. Within the 22 different presentations and sessions the future of cash was extensively explored alongside the impact of the pandemic on cash usage and consumer behaviour.

Tools to understand the cash cycle and the impact of the shadow economy and contactless payments were also covered, while Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) were touched on.

With many excellent papers, we selected two which we thought particularly helpful for understanding the cash cycle. Elsewhere this month we also report on a paper presented by the Reconnaissance Consulting Group, ‘Modelling Future Cash Levels’.

Impact of contactless cards

Helmut Stix presented a paper on behalf of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank, ‘Causal Evidence from the Staggered Introduction of Contactless Cards.’