Still going strong - but facing new challenges

Overview
Recent events have underlined the importance of cash as a refuge, as cash in circulation peaked at the height of the financial crisis. Since then, demand has remained strong and there has been no sign of repatriation of those banknotes.

At the same time, the cash cycle infrastructure is undergoing huge changes:

• Central banks have been significantly downsizing their branch networks. In the Eurozone alone, the number of central bank branches has halved since the launch of the euro.
• Banknote recirculation policies have led commercial banks to insource their banknote processing at branch level.
• New entities are emerging, often in the form of inter-bank utilities for managing wholesale cash.

This conference brings together all the stakeholders involved in the cash cycle: central banks, financial institutions, cash-in-transit companies, retailers and other cash users. It will provide them with an opportunity to share best practices and expertise with the aim of improving the overall functioning of the cash cycle.

Key issues
This year’s conference will focus on various topics, including:

• Efficiency. With the continuing importance of cash as a payment instrument and as a store of value, enhancing the smooth running and cost-efficiency of the supply chain is in everyone’s interest.

• Collection. The optimisation of cash collection processes and the development of innovative and effective solutions for corporate cash users remains a major challenge. Cash collection is the most costly part of the cash cycle and cost reduction remains a priority, especially in times of slow growth.

• Technology. Technology is enabling the development of a wide range of new solutions, including intelligent safes, back-office recycling and front-office pay-in solutions. These empower banks to deliver differentiated solutions and value-added services: the real-time monitoring of cash intakes, provisional credit, automated cash orders, hardware leasing, etc.