Cash Community Initiatives from CashEssentials

The independent think tank CashEssentials has launched two new initiatives – the Cash Academic Network and the Cash Associations’ Forum – both aimed at building bridges within different groups of the cash community.

Cash Academic Network (CAN)

The objective of CAN is to create a network of academics/researchers interested in cash, in order to:

• Share ideas on research topics/areas

• Connect researchers with the cash community

• Offer guidance on research

• Offer a sounding board to publish research.

By design, the group brings together researchers with different competencies – economy, sociology, anthropology, history, disaster risk management – and interests – financial inclusion, retail payments, resilience.

The network is not limited to academia and is open to researchers from central banks and the cash community. A kick-off meeting was held on 19 April and attended by 16 people, with another 18 who have expressed interest but were unable to join.