Sweden’s Riksbank is threatening banks with the prospect of regulation to ensure business access to cash services.

The Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) has begun an investigation into the phasing out of hundreds of bank cash machines and their replacement by a new consolidated network of ‘neutral’ Bancontact- branded ATMs. The investigation focuses on accessibility to the ATMs, and therefore to cash, as well as on the quality of service, notably in terms of waiting time.

When systems go down, they can go down big-time. As happened recently with the CrowdStrike software update glitch that caused a multitude of Microsoft systems around the world to crash, hitting hospitals and healthcare, transport, hospitality, retailers and payments. Cash, once again, was the fallback option.

Last month, we celebrated the 25th anniversary of the introduction of polymer banknotes in New Zealand. But all is not well with cash ‘down under’, with usage in rapid decline and the cash infrastructure in decline as well – both in response to falling demand and also a driver for it.

Florida, Wisconsin and Vermont are the latest states to consider introducing legislation to force cash acceptance.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed that it will allow old banknotes that were due to be phased out in December to remain legal tender indefinitely, following a ruling by the country’s Supreme Court.

The UK’s Cash Industry Environmental Charter Group (CIEC), which consists of more than 30 organisations active in cash working together to establish best practice and drive change, has reported on its progress.

This year the Americas Cash Cycle and Payments Seminar is taking place 27-30 November at the Walt Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida.

In March, Currency News™ featured an interview with Dr Wolfram Seidemann, CEO of G+D Currency, on the topic of building a resilient cash infrastructure.

So called ‘normal times’ ended in many respects more than three years ago, in early 2020. Since then, developments have been characterised by growing uncertainty and volatility, first by the COVID-19 pandemic and disruption of global supply chains, and then by geopolitical tensions created by the Russian attack on Ukraine and inflation of food and energy prices.