ICA information on cash and pandemic

The ICA is concerned by the rise of misinformation regarding the use of banknotes and coins as the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The ICA would therefore like to refer to the following statements and references from medical and cash experts.
EBA recommendation of 25/3/2020

The ICA has expressed its concern regarding the EBA’s recent recommendation to use contactless payments in order to avoid contamination with the COVID-19 virus. Inaccurate links have been drawn between the use of cash as a payment medium and the spread of COVID-19. Several central banks have now confirmed that cash is safe to use […]
ICA key messages

Why cash is safe to use in times of Corona Banknotes and coins are safe to use in times of Corona. Central banks and medical experts all confirm that cash is safe to use; there is no evidence for cash transmitting the virus (see list with references). Every information to the contrary is fake news. […]
Deutsche Bundesbank – Cash poses no particular risk of infection for public

Bundesbank executive board member Johannes Beermann has indicated that the risk of picking up coronavirus via cash is extremely minimal. In a press briefing at the Bundesbank, Mr Beermann noted that “the probability of becoming ill from handling cash is smaller than from many other objects used in everyday life”. “Banknotes and coins do not […]
Who: “Banknotes do not carry the corona virus”

The WHO retracted its recommendation from last week to go cashless (“We did not say that cash was transmitting coronavirus”, Fadela Chaib, spokesperson World Health Organization as quoted by MarketWatch) which it had issued despite assurances by central banks, e.g. the ECB or the Bundesbank, and medical experts that banknotes are no suspects in the […]
ICA Brochure
In 2016, the International Currency Association (ICA) was established as the collective voice for the currency industry, representing stakeholders across the entire payment landscape. ICA – Brochure Download the PDF
Cash as a public good – the expert view

A couple of weeks ago, Cash Matters, the pro-cash movement of the International Currency Association (ICA), published the white paper ‘Virtually Irreplaceable – Cash as a Public Infrastructure’ by Dr Ursula Dalinghaus, making a case for how and why cash must be understood as a ‘public good’. Dr Dalinghaus, Visiting Professor of Anthropology at Ripon […]
Currency community can create the most cost effective billboard campaign of all time
Throughout the history of our industry, cash as a payment mechanism has held a strong position in the ‘exchange of value’ market and as such there was little need to encourage the use of cash – it was an essential public service provided free of charge to the people. Now as the payments landscape has […]
The forum for the cash community

In 2016 the International Currency Association was formed to create a cohesive voice for the industry. Two years on, the ICA is launching its own event. The Global Currency Forum is being presented as a bold new proposition for a new era – a flagship, future-focused, thought-leadership forum that aims to help shape the future […]