Press

Bank of England says cash still ‘hugely relevant’

Publication: Financial Times 28/2/2024

The central bank said spikes in the popularity of cash can be attributed to the turmoil caused by the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. According to the Bank of England museum, one in five people say their preferred method of payment is still cash, and more people are using cash as a store of value for emergencies and to feel more in control of their money. […]

“It is crucial to have easy and convenient access to cash and certainty that it is accepted day-to-day across sectors,” said Martina Horakova, managing director of the International Mint Industry Association. Read the article.

Policymakers get the heebie-jeebies on CBDCs

Publication: Banking Risk & Regulation (FT Group) 17/10/2023

Pro-cash groups also worry that there are insufficient safeguards proposed to ensure that euro notes and coins must still be widely accepted.

Martina Horakova, International Mint Industry Association managing director, argues that EU institutions risk being seen as “unequally pushing citizens to adopt the digital euro, irrespective of preferences or need”. Read the article.

Creating a Level Playing Field for Cash

Publication: Coin & Mint News 6/10/2023

While the IMIA welcomes the EC’s proposals on access, it draws attention to a number of areas. Access to cash should be ‘sufficient’ and ‘effective’. It does not mention ‘convenient’. In contrast the digital euro text says access to it should be ‘universal, affordable and easy’. […] While the IMIA agrees that the current legal tender status of cash does not guarantee acceptance of or access to cash, and that the legal tender status of a digital euro must be clarified, it is concerned by the differences in treatment of these two versions of central bank money. Read the article.

Euro cash is not only the sole physical form of money, but also the only form of central bank money available to the public.  It is also the only form of money citizens can hold directly, without any third-party involvement. The IMIA argues that it is crucial that legal tender status of cash should not be discriminated but consistent to the legal tender status of central bank digital currency (CBDC) in terms of both access and acceptance rules. Read the article.

Cash CBDC Legal Tender Access Acceptance

Policymakers need to ensure that consumers and citizens do indeed always have the democratic freedom and crucially individual decision-making autonomy to make their own payment method choices between the two types of central bank public money – digital and physical. This means equal treatment in terms of legal underpinning for wide access and acceptability of both euro cash and digital euro. Failure to do so could be seen by citizens and taxpayers as both imprudent and undemocratic.

Cash as the type of central bank public money already utilised and trusted by the public needs to be granted equal, if not superior, legal tender status to a potential digital euro. Read the article.

Martina Horáková, managing director of the International Mint Industry Association, welcomes the commission’s recognition of cash’s ease of use, speed, safety and anonymity.

“Crucially, member states will need to ensure that the fundamental legal tender principle of mandatory acceptance is not undermined by ex ante exclusion of cash payments by enterprises, such as a ban on ‘no cash/card only’ window shop signs,” she says.

Horáková notes it is “yet to be seen” how member states implement corrective measures to ensure access to cash. But she adds the commission’s proposal for geographic access requirements – whether via the availability of bank branches, ATMs or appointed agents – is “encouraging”. Read the article.

EC proposes legal tender status for digital euro cash acceptance access

EC proposes legal tender status for digital euro

Publication: Central Banking 28/6/2023

Access to Cash – Nuances to Approaches

Publication: Mint Edition 2/5/2023

Access to Cash Infrastructure Policy Central Bank ATM bank merchants

One of the crucial differences in access to cash policy initiatives lies in their future looking nature. Ranging from approaches aiming at proactively defining an adequate level of access to secure the role of cash as reliable payments option for citizens with a long-term perspective to those purely targeting the preservation of the, often already deteriorated, level of cash infrastructure status quo. Read the article.

Sweden does not yet need CBDC, inquiry finds 

Publication: Central Banking 30/3/2023

Report recommends strengthening access to cash and other offline payment methods

“It is great to see that the inquiry found that the possibility to pay with cash is important and that there are grounds for the state to take greater responsibility,” says Martina Horakova, managing director of the International Mint Industry Association. Read the article.

US moves closer to digital dollar, but reservations remain

Publication: Global Risk Regulator 09/01/2023

“Bearing in mind that online banking and cyber crime is on the rise, it should be up to each individual’s economic freedom if they want to be financially prudent and use cash for their budgeting purposes and be less gadget dependent,” [Martina Horakova, Managing Director, IMIA] says.

“Equal access and acceptance for cash is not only crucial in terms of personal security and autonomy, but, as policy-makers increasingly realise, it is a matter of national security and resilience. Sadly, we live in a world of increasing cyber warfare and climate-change disasters affecting our energy infrastructures.” Read the article.

Dutch finance ministry’s recognition of cash’s “very important” role in payments and financial system functioning is crucial to safeguarding access and acceptance, says Martina Horakova. It is this financial stability benefit of cash that the IMIA also deems vital for both the society and the banking system itself.

The minister elaborates: “I share DNB’s [Dutch central bank] view that cash is very important for the smooth functioning of the payment system. Furthermore, cash is the only available form of public money. The cash infrastructure offers the possibility of exchanging non-cash money into public cash money and vice versa. It is a public anchor of the payments system that contributes to trust in the wider financial system.” Read the article.

How Mints Advocate for Cash

Publication: Cash Matters 7/3/2023

In a recent briefing paper, IMIA lays out the benefits of cash from the perspective of defending personal choice in the payment space. Firstly, it points to the resilience of critical national infrastructure, with cash remaining usable when cashless options fail due to interruptions to electrical and internet services—whether just for a few hours, or for extended periods in the case of a disaster. Read the article.

IMIA: Making the Case for Cash and Coins

Publication: Coin & Mint News 2/12/2022

IMIA President Gerhard Starsich and Managing Director Martina Horakova spoke to CMN about the foundation of the new association, the role of coins in the cash cycle and how the IMIA plans to make the case for their importance, and indeed that of cash overall. Read the article.

‘Hard Law’ Needed to Safeguard Euro Cash

Publication: Cash and Payment News 23/2/2023

The International Mint Industry Association has published a position paper (2023/01) urging the European Commission to give legal certainty on the implications of the legal tender status of euro banknotes and coins in terms of mandatory acceptance and to enshrine it in secondary law. Read the  article.

IMIA: Defending Access to and Acceptance of Cash and Coins

Publication: Cash Essentials 23/11/2022

“International card companies and commercial banks invest a lot of money to promote electronic payment products, whereas the cash industry until now has promoted cash, and the latter’s consumer and societal benefits, much too little in comparison. There is a critical need for the mint industry to step up and step in to educate, advocate and defend resilient future for cash, for the industry and importantly the society as a whole.” – Gerhard Starsich, President, International Mint Industry Association (IMIA). Read the article.