Three Views on the Future of Cash

The Silk Road Cash & Payments conference, which took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan at the end of March, included a session looking at the future of cash, with presentations from the Bank of Israel, the Bundesbank and European Savings and Retail Banking Group (ESRB).

Greater Efficiency is the Key for Cash

Stefan Hardt, Director General Cash Management at the Bundesbank, started his presentation at the conference with a picture of a football next to a Mastercard advertisement hoarding with the title, ‘A challenge for cash’.

Germany is the Eurosystem’s major cash user. At the end of 2022 Germany accounted for €900 billion of the €1,572 billion euros in circulation. Between 2009 and mid-2022 cash in circulation has been broadly stable in Germany, although it dipped sharply after interest rates moved from being negative to positive.