The Need for Cash in Times of Crisis – A Concept to Strengthen the Resilience of the Cash Cycle

In the event of a natural or man-made disaster, a power outage or even a failure of the IT and communication network, electronic payment systems typically no longer work. Any economic exchange in these cases must be made with the help of cash. Although cash itself is not dependent on any other infrastructure for the payment process, central banks, financial institutions, cash-in-transit companies and retailers must take precautionary measures to ensure that the cash cycle continues to function. In his talk Tim Stuchtey will present the findings of the research project BASIC. BASIC analyzed with representatives formally relevant stakeholders the German cash cycle on how to strengthen the resilience of the cash cycle in the event of an emergency or crisis and has drawn up recommendations for the relevant German actors.