Bank of Canada Reports on 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic saw payment behaviour deviate markedly from historical trends. Unsurprisingly this features heavily in the Bank of Canada’s 2020 annual report. On one hand it put pressures on its cash inventories as the Bank moved fast to boost stocks at its regional distribution centres. Its operations centres had to respond with agility and to innovate to ensure cash supply was uninterrupted.

The Bank commissioned research to understand the risks of cash payments in the pandemic. It found that cash payments are no riskier than touching other common surfaces and so urges retailers to continue to accept cash. This is a headline on its website.

The change in payment behaviour prompted the Bank to carry out extensive research to understand the changes, and the report says that this will feed into its Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) research.