![]() The results confirmed that the risk of transmission via banknotes and coins is very low, and thus cash remains safe to use. We therefore commissioned analyses by top-tier laboratories as early as March 2020. ![]() It was obviously crucial for the Eurosystem to address people’s fears of becoming infected through the use of cash. ![]() Main reasons for changing payment behaviour during the pandemic A survey commissioned by the Eurosystem in mid-2020 showed that around 40% of the respondents were using cash less frequently than before. Since early last year, the volume of cash being lodged at central banks and commercial banks has fallen by around 20-25% in the euro area (Chart 1). The pandemic has triggered diverging developments in the use of cash.įirst, it has markedly decreased the use of cash in day-to-day payments. We are taking concrete steps to guarantee that cash continues to be available and accepted as a means of payment well into the future – including if we launch a digital euro. Though its use as a means of payment has declined during the pandemic, demand for cash has risen.įor this reason, the Eurosystem is committed to safeguarding cash. Cash continues to play a crucial role in the euro area, and there is still demand for it. In my remarks today, I would like to explain why faster digitalisation does not spell the end for cash any time soon. This in turn has led to renewed questions about whether cash has a future in the digital economy. It has sped up the digitalisation of our economy – by seven years, according to recent estimates – and led to new consumer behaviours. But the pandemic has raised the volume of that debate significantly. Thank you for inviting me to speak today about “cash in times of turmoil”.Įven before the pandemic, the future of cash was being discussed as the use of digital payments accelerated. Keynote speech by Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, at the Deutsche Bundesbank’s 5th International Cash Conference – “Cash in times of turmoil”
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