Tuvalu is home to 11,000 people and now, for the first time, five ATMs as well, thereby opening up electronic banking for the tiny Pacific island’s inhabitants.

Another conference taking place in Warsaw later this year is The Future of Cash conference, from 3-5 November, which will bring together key stakeholders from across the cash community to explore innovative strategies for shaping the future of the cash cycle.

President João Lourenço of Angola has officially opened the National Bank of Angola’s new high-tech cash centre – Casa do Kwanza – in the capital, Luanda for the storage, processing and distribution of the country’s currency, the kwanza. The cash centre has been four years in the making, at a budgeted cost of c. Kz 33 billion, and will be able to process up to 4 million banknotes daily.

Even though innovations in digital payments have accelerated in recent decades, cash is the only payment option for a number of citizens in every country. Moreover, the great majority of people would like to keep cash as one of their payment options – even in those countries where its share in transactions is already small. Cash is also used for precautionary reasons as well as a store of value and has a significant role in various crises and uncertainties.

A functioning cash supply is a stabilising factor in our society, both in normal times and especially in times of crisis. At the same time, the demands for a robust and efficient cash circulation system are increasing.

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

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.

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.

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