IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bis/bisblt/3.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Covid-19, cash, and the future of payments

Author

Listed:
  • Raphael Auer
  • Giulio Cornelli
  • Jon Frost

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has fanned public concerns that the coronavirus could be transmitted by cash. Scientific evidence suggests that the probability of transmission via banknotes is low when compared with other frequently-touched objects, such as credit card terminals or PIN pads. To bolster trust in cash, central banks are actively communicating, urging continued acceptance of cash and, in some instances, sterilising or quarantining banknotes. Some encourage contactless payments. Looking ahead, developments could speed up the shift toward digital payments. This could open a divide in access to payments instruments, which could negatively impact unbanked and older consumers. The pandemic may amplify calls to defend the role of cash - but also calls for central bank digital currencies.

Suggested Citation

  • Raphael Auer & Giulio Cornelli & Jon Frost, 2020. "Covid-19, cash, and the future of payments," BIS Bulletins 3, Bank for International Settlements.
    • Handle: RePEc:bis:bisblt:3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/bisbull03.pdf
    File Function: Full PDF document
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.bis.org/publ/bisbull03.htm
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andreas Schrimpf & Hyun Song Shin & Vladyslav Sushko, 2020. "Leverage and margin spirals in fixed income markets during the Covid-19 crisis," BIS Bulletins 2, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Stefan Avdjiev & Egemen Eren & Patrick McGuire, 2020. "Dollar funding costs during the Covid-19 crisis through the lens of the FX swap market," BIS Bulletins 1, Bank for International Settlements.
    3. Codruta Boar & Henry Holden & Amber Wadsworth, 2020. "Impending arrival - a sequel to the survey on central bank digital currency," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 107.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlos Cantú & Paolo Cavallino & Fiorella De Fiore & James Yetman, 2021. "A global database on central banks' monetary responses to Covid-19," BIS Working Papers 934, Bank for International Settlements.
    2. Egemen Eren & Philip Wooldridge, 2021. "Non-bank financial institutions and the functioning of government bond markets," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 119.
    3. Emanuel Kohlscheen & Benoit Mojon & Daniel Rees, 2020. "The macroeconomic spillover effects of the pandemic on the global economy," BIS Bulletins 4, Bank for International Settlements.
    4. Claudio Borio, 2020. "The Covid-19 economic crisis: dangerously unique," Business Economics, Palgrave Macmillan;National Association for Business Economics, vol. 55(4), pages 181-190, October.
    5. Marlene Amstad & Giulio Cornelli & Leonardo Gambacorta & Dora Xia, 2020. "Investors' risk attitudes in the pandemic and the stock market: new evidence based on internet searches," BIS Bulletins 25, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Matteo Aquilina & Giulio Cornelli & Nikola Tarashev, 2025. "Commonality under pressure: banks and funds," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, March.
    7. Paolo Cavallino & Fiorella De Fiore, 2020. "Central banks' response to Covid-19 in advanced economies," BIS Bulletins 21, Bank for International Settlements.
    8. Boris Hofmann & Ilhyock Shim & Hyun Song Shin, 2020. "Emerging market economy exchange rates and local currency bond markets amid the Covid-19 pandemic," BIS Bulletins 5, Bank for International Settlements.
    9. Ľuboš Pástor & M Blair Vorsatz & Jeffrey Pontiff, 0. "Mutual Fund Performance and Flows during the COVID-19 Crisis," The Review of Asset Pricing Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 791-833.
    10. Erik Feyen & Jon Frost & Harish Natarajan & Tara Rice, 2021. "What Does Digital Money Mean for Emerging Market and Developing Economies?," Springer Books, in: Raghavendra Rau & Robert Wardrop & Luigi Zingales (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Technological Finance, pages 217-241, Springer.
    11. Jason Allen & Milena Wittwer, 2023. "Centralizing Over-the-Counter Markets?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 131(12), pages 3310-3351.
    12. Mahyar Kargar & Benjamin Lester & David Lindsay & Shuo Liu & Pierre-Olivier Weill & Diego Zúñiga, 2021. "Corporate Bond Liquidity during the COVID-19 Crisis [The day coronavirus nearly broke the financial markets]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(11), pages 5352-5401.
    13. Vissing-Jorgensen, Annette, 2021. "The Treasury Market in Spring 2020 and the Response of the Federal Reserve," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 19-47.
    14. Inaki Aldasoro & Wenqian Huang & Esti Kemp, 2020. "Cross-border links between banks and non-bank financial institutions," BIS Quarterly Review, Bank for International Settlements, September.
    15. Wang, Yi-Ran & Ma, Chao-Qun & Ren, Yi-Shuai, 2022. "A model for CBDC audits based on blockchain technology: Learning from the DCEP," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    16. Li, Junye & Sarno, Lucio & Zinna, Gabriele, 2024. "Risks and risk premia in the US Treasury market," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    17. Tamara Godoy & Jose Maria Serena & Bruno Tissot, 2020. "Central banks and fintech data issues," IFC Reports 10, Bank for International Settlements.
    18. Lim, King Yoong & Liu, Chunping & Zhang, Shuonan, 2024. "Optimal central banking policies: Envisioning the post-digital yuan economy with loan prime rate-setting," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    19. Mathias S. Kruttli & Phillip J. Monin & Lubomir Petrasek & Sumudu W. Watugala, 2021. "Hedge Fund Treasury Trading and Funding Fragility: Evidence from the COVID-19 Crisis," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2021-038, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    20. O’Donnell, Niall & Shannon, Darren & Sheehan, Barry, 2021. "Immune or at-risk? Stock markets and the significance of the COVID-19 pandemic," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bis:bisblt:3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Martin Fessler (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bisssch.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.