Cash serves as an important consumer protection instrument — it safeguards competition and preserves real payment choice. The ease with which consumers can access, deposit, and reliably pay with cash, directly affects how much freedom they have when choosing how to pay. This matters for consumer resilience – everyone’s ability to manage their finances and personal risks autonomously and on their own terms.
For these reasons, the IMIA recommends, in its the response to the European Commission’s Consumer Agenda 2025-2030 consultation, that in order to both strengthen consumer resilience and guarantee consumers’ universal right to public money — and with it, the right to freely choose how to pay — the regulatory proposal on Legal Tender for Euro Cash needs to be strengthened.
It must proactively regulate and guarantee easy, free and convenient access to cash for consumers, and ensure mandatory acceptance in all use cases, both private and public. While limiting charges and fees paid by merchants to access and deposit cash to support them in acceptance.
Note: This statement was originally issued by the International Mint Industry Association (IMIA). In January 2026, IMIA merged with the International Currency Association (ICA). The text reproduced here was sourced from the former IMIA website, which has since been archived.
