News | Cash & Payment News

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

5 min read

Payment News

Cardtronics runs 285,000 ATMs in 10 countries, making it the world’s largest operator of non-bank cash machines. This Houston based company is a major player in the cash industry but is now being pursued by two companies, firstly Apollo Global Management and Hudson Executive Capital and secondly NCR.

Cards CBDC News

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

3 min read

DNB Quick Guide to CBDCs

In April 2020 Harro Boven and Peter Wieters published a Dutch National Bank (DNB) Occasional Study on the objectives, pre-conditions and design choices for Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Harro wrote an abridged version that was used in Payers’ December publication about CBDCs which is summarised here.

CBDC

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

3 min read

Italy Moving Towards Digital Payments

The European Central Bank (ECB) is keen that EU member states engage with the public policy debate around Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) for the eurozone. In this context, it is reported that the Italian Banking Association is starting a technical feasibility study into using Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) for a future ‘digital euro’.

CBDC Digital Payments

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

2 min read

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.

Cash Usage Central Banks

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

5 min read

The Practicalities of Partnership

Bantas is a Turkish based cash in transit (CIT) joint venture between three Turkish commercial banks. With about 1,600 staff, it looks after 48 cash centres, servicing 9,000 ATMs, 2,700 bank branches and 3,300 shops using 425 armoured trucks.

ATMs Cash Centre Cash Management

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

5 min read

Contactless Payments Have Little Impact on Cash Usage

Marie-Hélène Felt wrote the Bank of Canada’s Staff Working Paper 2020-56 'Losing Contact: The Impact of Contactless Payments on Cash Usage'.

Cash Usage

John Winchcombe

2 Feb. 2021

5 min read

News in Brief

In the UK a company called BitcoinPoint has acted to make owning and using bitcoins easier. They are collaborating with the independent ATM operator Cashzone, who run 16,000 ATMs across the UK.

ATMs Cash Management Digital Payments

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

4 min read

Coin, Coin Everywhere and not a Cent to Spend

At the ICCOS Americas online conference there was, unusually, a coin panel, ‘Coin, coin everywhere and not a cent to spend.’ The focus was on what had happened to coins in the US in the pandemic, why a Coin Task Force had had to be set up and what the situation is now. The panel consisted of Kathleen Young from the Federal Reserve Cash Services Product Office, Ashley Yayock from Walmart, Thomas Strauser from Loomis, JR Davis from Davis Bankcorp and Linda Sherry from National Priorities Consumer Council.

Coins COVID Events

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

1 min read

Cost of Payments Stubbornly High

Andy Haldane, Chief Economist at the Bank of England, made a speech about the move to digital payments. Despite all the innovation of credit cards, ATMs, faster payments, open banking etc., he quoted Thomas Philippon, Professor of Finance at the New York University Stern School of Business, who estimates that the unit cost of financial services has hardly changed over the last century.

Cards

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

3 min read

Germany’s High Coin Demand Driven by Domestic Demand

The Bundesbank (BBk) provides 25.5% of the fully paid capital that underpins the European Central Bank (ECB), but it has brought into circulation 29.9% of the value of coins in circulation (€8.46 billion). This figure has been stable for some time.

Coins Country Profile

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

5 min read

News in Brief

Allied Universal has offered 245 pence in cash for each G4S plc share and agreement on the terms of the offer have been reached. This values the company at £3.8 billion, representing a premium of about 68% to the closing price of G4S shares on 11 September 2020, and an 11% premium to the highest closing price in the previous year. GardaWorld had offered 235 pence per share, some 4% less. G4S Directors intend unanimously to recommend that their shareholders accept the offer.

Commercial Banks COVID Digital Payments

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

5 min read

The Road to Bank Branch Transformation

Commercial banks are at the heart of the cash cycle and their branches have been their key customer touchpoint. If you read the news section on bank branches, you might think they are to become a side show for commercial banks. RBR held an online conference on branch transformation at the end of November. The move by customers online, using apps and telephone banking is accelerating a trend to slim down branch networks, and so this event was a useful insight into the future branch.

Bank Branch Commercial Banks Events

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

2 min read

DMI – the Future of Payments

OMFIF’s Digital Monetary Institute recently published a report on the Future of Payments. The report is a thorough examination of non-cash payment developments but two elements stood out. Firstly, a striking infographic showing the age profiles of four parts of the world and, secondly, more information on the growth, importance and impact of mobile payments.

Digital Payments Future of Cash

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

4 min read

YouGov and the Impact of COVID on Cash

YouGov have carried out a survey in 21 countries asking about payments in the pandemic, which provides an interesting snapshot on the relative impact of COVID-19 on cash usage around the world.

Cash Usage COVID

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

5 min read

Payments in Brief

Wholesale Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) are a less talked about element of the CBDC conversation, perceived as more operational than revolutionary. However, the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has successfully concluded a proof-of-concept project with the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and SIX to explore the performance of the technology to integrate a tokenised digital asset and central bank money.

Apps CBDC Digital Payments

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

4 min read

ECB Emphasises the Importance of Cash

The European Central Bank (ECB) has published the results of a major study into the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area (SPACE) and compared it with a similar 2016 study (the SUCH study on the payment attitudes of consumers in the euro area). It also published results of another large scale interim 2020 survey, the impact of the pandemic on cash trends (IMPACT) survey.

Central Banks COVID Surveys

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

2 min read

DNB Commissions Study into Future Cash Infrastructure

The Dutch National Bank (DNB) has commissioned a medium-term study to consider the cash infrastructure needed by the Netherlands. In October 2020 the DNB estimates that cash use at the point-of-sale had fallen to 20%.

Cash Management Country Profile

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

5 min read

2020 Vision: News in Brief

Did much happen this year? A moment to reflect.

Editorial

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

1 min read

Libra Rebrands to Become ‘Diem’

The Libra Association has rebranded itself as the Diem Association, its payment service operator will be called Diem Networks and its currency the Diem Dollar. Its Calibra blockchain group, responsible for the digital wallet that will hold the Diem Dollar, has already been renamed Novi.

John Winchcombe

4 Jan. 2021

4 min read

The Cash ‘Paradox’

In its latest Quarterly Bulletin, the Bank of England published an article ‘Cash in the time of COVID’. The article seeks to explain what it referred to as the cash ‘paradox’, that cash in circulation is up while cash transaction volumes are down, which has been brought into sharp relief during the pandemic.

Cash in Circulation COVID

Latest News

Payment News

DNB Quick Guide to CBDCs

Italy Moving Towards Digital Payments

Euro Vision (But Not the Song Contest)

The Practicalities of Partnership

Contactless Payments Have Little Impact on Cash Usage

News in Brief

Coin, Coin Everywhere and not a Cent to Spend

Cost of Payments Stubbornly High

Germany’s High Coin Demand Driven by Domestic Demand

News in Brief

The Road to Bank Branch Transformation

DMI – the Future of Payments

YouGov and the Impact of COVID on Cash

Payments in Brief

ECB Emphasises the Importance of Cash

DNB Commissions Study into Future Cash Infrastructure

2020 Vision: News in Brief

Libra Rebrands to Become ‘Diem’

The Cash ‘Paradox’

Sign Up to Cash & Payment News Weekly

Almost there!