For central banks and related institutions – measuring what cash gives to society, not only what it costs.
Sound policy requires understanding both the cost and the benefit of cash. Currently, research on the cost of cash outnumbers studies on its societal value by five to one, leaving its contributions to sovereignty, resilience, trust, privacy, and inclusion largely invisible. To ensure balanced policy decisions, the ICA launched the “Quantifying the Value of Cash” initiative.
The project delivers a robust, internationally comparable methodology built on two complementary indices:
A population-based measure of how citizens perceive the relevance and importance of cash in their daily lives.
Both indices are built around five dimensions of societal value:
The framework was developed through an interdisciplinary research process and tested in a pilot study in Germany, using a triangulated mixed-methods approach:
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Key pilot finding. The German pilot indicates that the societal value generated by cash corresponds to approximately 1.2% of GDP – nearly three times the combined cost of producing, distributing and handling cash.
The methodology is now available for implementation across the globe. Central banks regularly analyse payment methods; this framework allows each participating institution to obtain country-specific results within an internationally comparable structure.
The initiative aims to establish the world’s first internationally comparable Cash Value Indicator, enabling:
By quantifying what would otherwise remain invisible, the initiative gives policymakers a balanced and comprehensive understanding of the true value of cash in modern economies.
Germany is just the first step. The Value of Cash Index is designed to scale globally. Are you a central banker, researcher, or policymaker looking to collaborate and measure the true societal value of currency in your jurisdiction? Let’s work together.
