The Evolving Landscape of Global Currency: 2025 Currency Conference Insights – Carter & Riley [Season 2 | Episode #20]

Podcast Intro 00:00:01 Hello. Welcome to P.I.T. Exchange, a podcast by Currency Research. Join us as we discuss the latest in payments, innovation and technology with the industry’s most innovative thought leaders. Today’s payments are changing and moving around the world faster than ever before. An exchange gives you the knowledge and insights to keep up. Sit back and relax as we join currency research, exchanging ideas with today’s special guest.

Shelley Jackson 00:00:33 Welcome back to The exchange. I’m Shelley Jackson, vice president of operations and marketing here at Currency Research. In this episode, we’ve recorded a conversation that dives into the key highlights, themes, and insights coming out of the recent currency conference held in Bangkok. It’s a quick way to revisit the core messages or catch up if you weren’t able to join us. Let’s get into it.

Carter 00:00:53 Welcome to the Deep Dive. Today we are diving into, well, a really fascinating source, an event brief from the 2025 currency conference, which took place recently in Bangkok.

Riley 00:01:05 Yeah, and this brief, it’s not just some dry summary, is it?

Carter 00:01:07 Not at all.

Carter 00:01:08 It’s packed with insights from keynotes, panels, innovation, showcases, even awards. You’ve got central banks, printworks, all sorts of organisations together.

Riley 00:01:17 A real global.

Riley 00:01:18 Gathering. And they were all grappling with the future of money.

Carter 00:01:21 Exactly. And the theme really sets the stage. Panta Rei.

Riley 00:01:25 That’s Greek, right? For everything flows.

Carter 00:01:28 Yeah. And it perfectly captures that central tension. They were exploring how physical currency, you know, cash is adapting, flowing alongside this incredibly rapid digital payment evolution.

Riley 00:01:38 And of course, changing consumer habits too. It’s all connected.

Carter 00:01:41 Okay, so let’s unpack this. Our mission here really is to pull out the most important nuggets of knowledge, the key insights from this conference brief.

Riley 00:01:48 We want to understand the big challenges for currency today. Yeah.

Carter 00:01:51 Right. And also the surprising ways cash is proving resilient and how technology is shaping both sides digital and physical money.

Riley 00:02:00 Think of this as your shortcut. You know to get include in on the cutting edge of global currency policy and tech.

Carter 00:02:07 We’ll try to go beyond just the headlines, really get to the core of what these experts were discussing.

Riley 00:02:12 Okay, so setting the scene, the keynotes really kick things off by highlighting this dual nature of payments today.

Carter 00:02:20 Yeah, we heard from the Bank of Thailand’s deputy governor, Alisara Mahansadana. What was the picture she painted for Thailand?

Riley 00:02:26 Well, it was interesting post-Covid, like many places, they saw this boom in digital payments, especially contactless.

Carter 00:02:33 Makes sense. That’s a global thing.

Riley 00:02:35 Absolutely. Yeah. But and this is key. She really stressed that cash is still essential, especially out in rural areas and also crucially for payment resilience. You know if the digital systems go down.

Carter 00:02:46 So right there you’ve got that theme. Yeah. Cash and digital as complements. Not just one replacing the other.

Riley 00:02:51 Exactly. Then we heard from Mark Gould from the Federal Reserve Financial Services talking about the US.

Carter 00:02:57 And his data was fascinating. Wasn’t it kind of counterintuitive.

Riley 00:03:01 Yeah. Because US dollar cash is actually still high, even while new digital stuff like FedNow

Riley 00:03:07 Now that’s the Fed’s real time payment system is growing like crazy.

Carter 00:03:11 He had a bit of fun with it too, didn’t he? Looking back at predictions, he did.

Riley 00:03:15 He sort of laughed about all the failed predictions over the years about cash disappearing. Likened them to those early, totally wrong forecasts about the iPhone being a flop.

Carter 00:03:26 That’s a great comparison. And speaking of memorable things, he coined a phrase that apparently really echoed through the conference.

Riley 00:03:33 the physical handshake.

Carter 00:03:35 Cash is a physical handshake in a digital world.

Riley 00:03:37 It’s powerful, isn’t it? Because it’s about more than just the transaction. It’s connection, trust.

Carter 00:03:43 Tangibility in a world that’s increasingly virtual.

Riley 00:03:46 Yeah, it’s not just numbers moving around on a screen. It’s something real.

Carter 00:03:50 And you see this complexity, this duality playing out everywhere, but like at different speeds.

Riley 00:03:56 Definitely some panels. We’re talking about places like the Netherlands in the UK where cash use is dropping sharply.

Carter 00:04:02 And that pressure is forcing new ideas, right? Like shared processing centers, banking hubs, trying to keep access going.

Riley 00:04:09 But then you contrast that with, say, Hong Kong or India, right? They’ve got huge digital adoption too. But cash usage is still described as healthy.

Carter 00:04:19 Hong Kong’s unique too, with commercial banks issuing notes that must make a difference.

Riley 00:04:23 It probably does keeps the private sector invested, you know, in the actual cash infrastructure.

Carter 00:04:29 So the big picture isn’t simple. It’s not cash just fading away everywhere at the same time.

Riley 00:04:34 No, it’s way more nuanced. Different speeds, different pressures. And the role cash plays keeps evolving depending on the context.

Carter 00:04:41 Which brings us to that fundamental question why? Why does cash hang on so strongly in so many places, even with all these digital options?

Riley 00:04:49 Yeah, the conference really dug into that. Ante Heinonen from the Bank of Finland. He showed some really compelling historical data.

Carter 00:04:55 What did.

Riley 00:04:56 It show? A clear pattern. People rely on cash way more in times of crises. Think natural disasters, cyber attacks, even pandemics messing with digital systems are.

Carter 00:05:07 So it’s that ultimate fallback reliability.

Riley 00:05:09 Exactly. And his point was, central banks shouldn’t just assume that CBDCs, central bank digital currencies, could automatically provide that same safety net. Interesting point.

Carter 00:05:20 Yeah, you still need the physical option.

Riley 00:05:21 At least have a robust cash infrastructure alongside it. Yeah, as a backup or an alternative.

Carter 00:05:27 We also heard about practical barriers keeping cash essential on the ground like in Namibia.

Riley 00:05:32 Right. They highlighted things like high transaction costs for digital payments systems that don’t, you know, talk to each other. The structure gap, big ones, plus challenges with financial and digital literacy for some part of the population, cash just works. It fills those gaps.

Carter 00:05:48 In the Philippines Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, they showed impressive digital growth beating targets.

Riley 00:05:55 Which is great.

Carter 00:05:55 But but their data also shows cash demand is still strong and actually forecast to grow more over the next five years.

Riley 00:06:02 Coexistence. It keeps coming back to that.

Carter 00:06:05 Burkhard Bowles from the Deutsche Bundesbank had that metaphor the ship navigating turbulent seas.

Riley 00:06:10 Yeah, acknowledging that in some places there might be this looming downward spiral for cash use.

Carter 00:06:16 But he warned against just letting the infrastructure crumble, right.

Riley 00:06:19 Strongly, he stressed the need to maintain it to support consumer choice. That balance between tradition and modernity. That’s the compass central banks need.

Carter 00:06:29 And there’s a panel just on emergency cash reserves.

Riley 00:06:32 Yep. Drove the point home. Crises of any kind, not just digital ones, usually spike cash demand. People want something tangible, something reliable.

Carter 00:06:41 You also see companies finding really clever ways to bridge this gap. Like true money in Thailand.

Riley 00:06:47 That was a great example. They started by helping cash reliant folks shop online virtual cards linked to cash deposits at convenience stores.

Carter 00:06:54 So direct financial inclusion for the unbanked or underbanked.

Riley 00:06:57 Exactly. Even letting them access things like bite sized insurance. Small, affordable products.

Carter 00:07:03 And what’s really interesting is how their model evolved.

Riley 00:07:06 Yeah, it started 100% funded by cash deposits into these digital wallets. Now it’s 90% funded by bank transfers.

Carter 00:07:13 So the initial cash convenience actually helped people get comfortable with digital. It’s ceded that integration.

Riley 00:07:19 Precisely and down in the South Pacific Bank, South Pacific BSP. They talked about how vital cash is for connecting remote island communities.

Carter 00:07:28 For things like agriculture.

Riley 00:07:30 Yeah, handling large cash payments for farmers like cocoa farmers selling their crops, and remittances too.

Carter 00:07:37 Especially where there might be trust issues with digital or lower digital literacy.

Riley 00:07:41 Exactly. Cash is still king in many of those situations.

Carter 00:07:45 So Pandora, everything flows. It’s not just about watching it happen. It’s about steering the ship. Right? Adapting.

Riley 00:07:52 Definitely. And the conference tackled some really tough strategic challenges that come with this flow.

Carter 00:07:58 Like the situation in Australia with the CIT company.

Riley 00:08:00 Yeah. The new insolvency of a major cash and transit company there described as the perfect storm. Rising costs, falling volumes. It put critical infrastructure at risk.

Carter 00:08:11 So the discussion was about how to keep that system viable, right?

Riley 00:08:14 Finding that balance, fostering healthy competition, but making sure these crucial players can actually survive commercially.

Carter 00:08:19 Public private collaboration came up a lot.

Riley 00:08:21 Their huge theme and using technology, crucially to try and get those high fixed costs down in cash logistics.

Carter 00:08:29 There was also a fireside chat with fed cash talking resilience again.

Riley 00:08:33 Yeah, about how the US cash cycle proved it could ramp up during recent crises.

Carter 00:08:38 And people are holding more cash now.

Riley 00:08:40 Apparently so U.S. consumers holding more physical cash than before the pandemic, and banks are putting more high denomination bills out there in response.

Carter 00:08:48 Interesting. And the kit companies themselves are cooperating more.

Riley 00:08:52 Seems the pandemic forced some closer collaboration there, which has continued.

Carter 00:08:56 Okay, shifting gears a bit to policy. There was debate, especially in Europe, about rules for cash access and acceptance.

Riley 00:09:04 Yes, the proposed European single currency package aims to protect cash usage, but actually enforcing acceptance by merchants is tricky.

Carter 00:09:13 Why is that? Isn’t it legal tender?

Riley 00:09:15 Well, what legal tender actually means varies a lot. In some places, it just means you can settle a debt with it. It doesn’t force a shot to take it for a coffee.

Carter 00:09:22 okay. So making rules stick is hard without clear penalties.

Riley 00:09:26 Exactly. Gets complicated quickly across different countries.

Carter 00:09:29 So if you want to support cash in this digital world, how do you actually advocate for it? Effectively there was a panel on that.

Riley 00:09:36 Yeah. Cash advocacy and education. Their main point was it’s not just about advocating for cash. It’s about preserving consumer freedom of choice in payments.

Carter 00:09:44 And they had some surprising tactics.

Riley 00:09:46 They did using young influencers on social media like TikTok, turned out to be incredibly effective and cheap for reaching people.

Carter 00:09:54 Really.

Riley 00:09:55 For cash.

Carter 00:09:56 Yeah. One campaign apparently got over 10 million views in a country of only 20 million people. Huge reach.

Riley 00:10:04 Wow. That’s unexpected. Any other key moments for education?

Carter 00:10:08 Introducing new currency series. New banknotes is a prime time for public education, reminding people why cash matters.

Riley 00:10:15 It’s features and collaboration again.

Carter 00:10:17 Crucial central banks, commercial banks, governments, schools all working together amplifies the message.

Riley 00:10:23 Beyond policy and access. The environment that came up to the footprint of currency big time.

Carter 00:10:28 A whole panel on cash, logistics and its significant carbon footprint.

Carter 00:10:32 Moving all that physical money around it adds up.

Riley 00:10:35 It really does. So they discuss strategies, local cash recycling to cut down transport.

Carter 00:10:40 Switching to polymer notes for longer life. Yeah, like the Thai 20 baht.

Riley 00:10:44 Exactly significantly extended its life. Also, using data analytics from cash machines to predict needs better reduce unnecessary sit trips.

Carter 00:10:52 And those white label ATMs the independent ones.

Riley 00:10:56 Yeah, using them to optimize the distribution network make it more efficient.

Carter 00:11:00 But it needs everyone working together, doesn’t it? Retailers? Banks? Central banks.

Riley 00:11:04 Absolutely. And central banks have that tricky balancing act. Improve sustainability, but still make sure people, especially in rural areas, can actually get cash. Transport might be less efficient there, but access is vital.

Carter 00:11:17 Looking at the whole life cycle. Cradle to grave production versus logistics.

Riley 00:11:22 Right. Central banks are pushing for green energy and production. But an ECB study, European Central Bank found logistics. The transport part is responsible for about 70% of the total environmental impact.

Carter 00:11:33 Wow.

Carter 00:11:34 So production is relatively small compared to moving it around?

Riley 00:11:36 Pretty much. Recycling notes is also tricky. Mixed materials, the sheer scale.

Carter 00:11:42 But they’re innovating.

Riley 00:11:43 Yeah. The ECB is looking at cool stuff like using shredded notes to make materials for things like eyeglass frames. Oh, and they’re moving to 100% organic Fairtrade cotton for their paper notes by 2027.

Carter 00:11:57 And just designing notes to last longer from the start helps to presumably.

Riley 00:12:01 Definitely thinking about sustainability right from the design phase. Less resource use overall.

Carter 00:12:07 Okay, so technology clearly a huge factor. It’s like a double edged sword here, right? Pushing away from cash but also offering new tools for cash.

Riley 00:12:15 Totally. Discussions about digital payments highlighted the challenges. Building trust. Security. Meeting diverse needs systems, not connecting regulatory differences.

Carter 00:12:24 Which helps explain why digital isn’t just taking over everywhere instantly.

Riley 00:12:27 Right. And they stressed again. Despite all the digital growth, cash use is still increasing in many places. It points to that coexistence future.

Carter 00:12:34 But tech is also helping the cash industry itself.

Riley 00:12:37 Yeah, the innovation sessions showcase things like AI to analyze banknote lifespan, more automation and cash centers.

Carter 00:12:44 Those polymer notes extending life.

Riley 00:12:45 Even looking at new ways to use coins transactions beyond just vending machines.

Carter 00:12:51 And AI robotics automation within cash management.

Riley 00:12:55 Big focus there. Things like voice risk analysis for security guards, advanced vision systems, and AI for sorting cash faster and more accurately.

Carter 00:13:04 Centralized risk utility. What’s that?

Riley 00:13:07 An idea? Maybe to pool risk data and potentially reduce insurance costs for the whole industry? Plus robotics and drones for security and efficiency in moving cash.

Carter 00:13:16 The overall goal being.

Riley 00:13:17 A step change in cost structure, with volumes potentially declining in some areas. The cost per note handled goes up. Tech is seen as the way to fight that to become much more efficient.

Carter 00:13:27 Okay, connecting this to the really big picture. Looking further ahead. Quantum computing came up as a threat.

Riley 00:13:32 A fundamental one. The investment globally is massive. $30 billion in 2022 alone. China investing heavily.

Carter 00:13:39 And the worry is it could break current encryption.

Riley 00:13:42 Pretty much the kind that protects everything online banking, crypto like Bitcoin, potentially making it obsolete, maybe even by 2030.

Carter 00:13:50 Whoa. So what’s the defense.

Riley 00:13:52 Developing post-quantum cryptography or PKI, new encryption methods that quantum computers can’t break. It’s urgent.

Carter 00:14:00 Organizations need a framework to switch quickly.

Riley 00:14:02 To a crypto agility framework because the immediate threat isn’t just when quantum computers arrive. It’s this harvest now, decrypt later idea. Bad actors could be capturing encrypted data today, storing it and just waiting until they have a quantum computer powerful enough to crack it open later.

Carter 00:14:21 Yikes. Okay, and this relates to CBDCs too.

Riley 00:14:23 Critically, if countries roll out CBDCs, they absolutely must be designed with quantum resistance built in from day one. Otherwise they could be vulnerable down the road.

Carter 00:14:32 That really does paint a stark picture for digital security. Makes you appreciate the non-digital alternative sometimes, doesn’t it?

Riley 00:14:39 And the conference brought all these global viewpoints together, like Fiji being cautious about CBDCs.

Carter 00:14:44 Yeah, wanting to watch bigger countries go first.

Riley 00:14:47 Which leads nicely into how digital currencies and cash might coexist. There was a study from the Netherlands on an offline digital euro concept.

Carter 00:14:56 What did that find?

Riley 00:14:57 Well, it suggested it could coexist. People in the study hypothetically put similar amounts into both cash and this offline digital Euro wallet?

Carter 00:15:06 Sure. Do they prefer an app or a card?

Riley 00:15:08 Card form is more popular. And they suggested lower holding limits than often talked about publicly. Maybe €502,000, though auto top up was appealing.

Carter 00:15:17 Now, what were the barriers for people not interested? Privacy?

Riley 00:15:20 Surprisingly, no. It was more about just lack of familiarity, lack of trust in this new thing rather than specific privacy worries in that particular study.

Carter 00:15:29 And that theme of public private cooperation kept popping up.

Riley 00:15:31 Consistently, especially for things like cash processing, ATM networks, cash advocacy. Hong Kong’s model, with commercial banks issuing notes, was cited as a long standing example, and they celebrated successes to write awards. Yet inducting people into the Currency Hall of Fame awards for excellence in currency.

Riley 00:15:49 New banknotes like the Philippine Polymer Series, coins like the Paris Olympics, €2 cash visibility programs, public campaigns, shows. It’s a vibrant field. People are actively working on this stuff.

Carter 00:16:00 Okay, so pulling all these different threads together, the different speeds of change, why cash persists. The challenges, the tech, the global views. What’s the the core message flowing out of Bangkok?

Riley 00:16:12 I think the core message is really clear. Cash isn’t dead. Not by a long shot. But its role is changing dynamically. It needs active management, innovation, and a lot of collaboration to adapt and stay relevant.

Carter 00:16:23 So the pantry flow isn’t just cash draining away to digital?

Riley 00:16:26 Not at all. It’s this a complex system, different payment methods, living side by side, serving different needs, resilience, inclusion, convenience and they’re all adapting to tech and how society changes.

Carter 00:16:36 The challenges are real though. Keeping infrastructure viable. Regulating access. Sustainability. Future threats like quantum.

Riley 00:16:43 Absolutely significant challenges. But the key takeaway is they are being actively addressed by this global community of experts are working to make sure consumers still have real choices and how they pay.

Carter 00:16:54 Which leads us to a final, maybe provocative thought for you, the listener, to ponder as everything keeps flowing.

Riley 00:17:01 Yeah, given some talk about Generation Alpha, maybe wanting a kind of digital renaissance, seeking more physical connections, more self-expression. Could we see cash reimagined?

Carter 00:17:11 Could it become more than just, you know, transactional, maybe more personalized, even a sort of programmable physical currency, something that bridges that physical handshake idea with the digital world?

Riley 00:17:24 It’s definitely something to think about, isn’t it? How money itself might continue to evolve.

Carter 00:17:28 That was our deep dive into the future of currency, using insights straight from the 2025 Currency Conference. We touched on cash resilience, that physical handshake idea, the environmental side, quantum threats, and how tech is surprisingly revitalizing parts of the cash cycle.

Riley 00:17:44 We really hope this gave you some valuable insights, maybe a few moments about this incredibly dynamic world of payments.

Carter 00:17:51 There’s always more to learn, for sure. And this brief definitely gave us a lot to mull over.

Shelley Jackson 00:17:56 Thanks for tuning in. What you just heard was actually our very first AI generated episode. The conversation, voices and flow were all created using AI tools based on real content from the Currency conference. Carter and Riley, as we’re calling them, are fully digital. And this was our way of exploring a different format to share insights in a fresh and accessible way. At our core, the exchange is all about connecting and learning through real conversations with people, shaping the future of payments and currency. That hasn’t changed. This episode was simply a new spin on content we already created, just packaged a little differently for some. Hearing the discussion might be more engaging way to absorb the ideas than reading a full, brief, or summary. We’d love to know what you think and if you enjoyed it, don’t forget to like, follow, and subscribe and be sure to tune in for the next episode of The P.I.T. Exchange. See you next time!

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