Top Cash Stories of 2023: Part Two
Jan 10, 2024
Today, we recap some of the top cash stories from the second half of 2023.
July: Payment Bill Seeks to Empower Americans with Choice in Payments
A bipartisan bill aimed at preserving freedom of choice in payments was reintroduced to the United States Senate, intended to prohibit businesses from refusing cash payments, or charging a higher price to use cash.
Click here for the full story.
August: The Transformative Power of Cash Assistance
The United Nations World Food Programme has provided cash-based assistance to tackle emergencies and humanitarian crises since 2008, and its 2023 report paints an encouraging picture of how rapid and targeted delivery of physical currency to people in need supports them in making positive changes to their own lives, those of their families, and the communities in which they live.
Click here for the full story.
September: Cash and Choice in Cuba
Cuba’s government made moves to restrict cash use in a bid to ‘force businesses and citizens to use electronic payments.’ The move was unpopular with citizens for whom banknotes in hand bring choice, privacy and personal control over their finances, and thus their lives.
Click here for the full story.
October: Cash Helps Canadians Cope with Cashless Crash
Payments across Canada switched to cash as a network outage at cashless payment processing company Moneris knocked out card transactions across large swathes of the country, including Ontario, British Columbia, Mississauga and Winnipeg.
Hot on the heels of this outage, Woolworths stores across Australia went cash-only due to internet connection problems that rendered cashless payments impossible.
November: Uruguay’s Cashless Crash
…And yet another reminder of the importance of cash—even for those who prefer paying cashless— arose when, following an ‘aggressive strategy’ to grow cashless transactions in Uruguay, fintech service provider Fiserv experienced network disruption that knocked out card payments for thousands of businesses, with local media reporting it suffered a cyberattack.
Click here for the full story.
December: The Joys of Cash
Cash Matters launched the Joys of Cash series, giving simple and practical examples of how cash makes everyday life easier and more enjoyable. Videos this month covered resilience, inclusivity, simplicity, fairness and security.
