Cash Chapter
The Ligue's Cash Chapter has the objective of raising awareness of the importance of maintaining the critical infrastructure of cash as a reliable and resilient payment means. By providing opinions, research and fundamental insights to the industry, the Chapter strives for supporting the strategic adoption to emerging trends impacting the cash cycle management. It further aims at ensuring that Cash and its distribution are legally protected and promoted, and that Cash is available and accessible everywhere and anytime to Citizens, even in times of crisis. The Ligue`s Cash Chapter is therefore regularly engaging with legislators around the world and teaming up with fellow associations.
March 5, 2025 – The International Security Ligue (Ligue) Cash Chapter has published its position paper on Legal Tender Euro Cash and Digital Euro.
The Ligue emphasizes its call for a more holistic and cautious approach to the two legislative proposals for central bank money. Despite the legislators’ intention to establish a central bank digital currency, cash is the only legal tender and physical central bank currency, and its infrastructure must be protected and maintained to be able to develop their stabilizing effect in any kind of crisis. Beyond the raising geopolitical tensions, a clear and pragmatic approach must be applied. Lengthy discussions about exclusions and backdoors to mandatory acceptance of cash are counterproductive in this context.
Tanja Kulisch-Ziemens, Secretary General of the Ligue's Cash Chapter, says: "To effectively protect the rights and welfare of citizens and to maintain economic and financial stability, a true level playing field must be created for both digital and physical central bank currencies. Cash plays a central role in the economy and in society. It is a public good that must be universally accepted and available to ensure genuine freedom of choice, privacy, social inclusiveness, and resilience. The maintenance of the critical cash infrastructure is of great importance - especially in these uncertain times".
Convenient, anonymous, trusted, tangible, ubiquitous—it’s easy to see why the habit of paying with cash persists. But risks to cash exist, which is one focus of Ligue reporting, alongside news about monetary policy, global research, and industry efforts to improve sustainability.
Independent researchers conducted a study on the comparative costs of cash and debit cards and learned cash is a cheaper form of payment in almost every country and every size transaction.
Fraud is a significant and mounting problem for global economies made worse by non-cash methods of payment, according to “Fraud in cash and electronic payments: taxonomy, estimation and projections.”
READ THE STUDY
Humorous — but with a serious message serious: Governments around the world need to take steps to protect and promote cash.
1. Pursuing convenience for some can leave behind others.
2. The resilience of cash makes it an important firewall against the increase in natural disasters and cyberattacks.
3. Electronic payment fraud is simple compared to fraud with cash.
