ECB: cash is critical in crises and access must be guaranteed
The European Central Bank said on Wednesday that cash remains a critical backstop in emergencies and that central banks and private lenders must guarantee access. In a review of crises from the pandemic to this year’s Iberian blackout, the ECB said cash’s utility "intensifies markedly" when stability is threatened and called for adequate stocks and resilient business‑continuity plans.
The paper, authored by ECB economists, frames cash as both a practical tool (offline payments when digital rails fail) and a source of public reassurance. It lists operational measures for crisis readiness: maintaining adequate cash inventories, stress‑testing distribution logistics, and preparing for heavy‑tailed (rare but outsized) demand surges. These sit within the Eurosystem cash strategy to secure availability, access and acceptance of cash. It notes Europe’s dwindling branches and ATMs even as policymakers vow payment choice alongside work on a digital euro, and argues that ensuring physical currency access is part of systemic resilience.
Household guidance is already emerging. Authorities in the Netherlands, Austria and Finland recommend holding about €70–€100 per household member – roughly 72 hours of essentials. Finland is also exploring “disruption‑proof” ATMs to preserve withdrawals during digital outages, the ECB said.
Across case studies, demand spikes had different triggers but a consistent pattern: precautionary hoarding during the pandemic; rapid, localized surges near conflict zones after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; widespread reliance on notes during the Spain/Portugal blackout; and recurring spikes through Greece’s debt crisis. In each, people turned to cash as a store of value and a means of payment when confidence wavered or systems went dark.
Beyond individual behavior, the ECB argues cash provides redundancy to Europe’s payment stack – a “spare tire” that creates a distributed liquidity network when centralized systems stumble. That social insurance role, it says, is difficult to replicate in digital‑only regimes and complements efforts to harden electronic infrastructure.
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