The conflict in Ukraine has awakened the need to have cash at home. In recent weeks, withdrawals from ATMs and bank counters have been increasingly important, especially in the countries of Northern and Eastern Europe. This is noted by the European Association for the Transport and Conveying of Values (Esta), which brings together cash carriers. Since the beginning of the war, in Slovakia, for example, the filling of vending machines has increased by 30%, in the Czech Republic it is 20%. More surprisingly, this increase can also be seen in Finland and Sweden, whereas these European countries are, in normal times, those which use cash the least.
In fact, households are afraid of no longer having access to their accounts, of no longer being able to make transfers, because of cyberattacks, for example, which could disrupt banking systems. They don’t trust. This is a fairly classic phenomenon that we had already observed during the 2008 financial crisis but which is gaining momentum with the war in Ukraine.
There has been no influx of money withdrawals into France since the start of the war in Ukraine, but the Banque de France has nevertheless noted a basic trend: for several months now, there have been more and more demand for coins and banknotes but which do not circulate in the economy, which are not used to pay, which do not return to the till, which disappear. They therefore remain in the woolen stockings. Sign that people are making reservations, for fear of the future.
This movement is observed from confinement. One would have thought that the bank card would be essential because it was used a lot to avoid touching coins and notes, for fear of catching the virus. But no. We see that cash still has a bright future ahead of it. According to an Ipsos survey for Monnaie de Paris, published last fall, 70% of French people still use cash every day for small purchases, to pay for baguettes or coffee at the counter.