Currency Fast Forward – Shaping the Future of Money

What do you get when an industry leader, Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), brings together 175 central bankers / print works and 150 cash cycle experts from commercial banks and CITs into one room? A collective of knowledge, experience and focused thought that is willing to listen, challenge and reflect on the big issues affecting the sector.

The Currency Technology Symposium (CTS), a biennial event, celebrated the topic ‘Currency Fast Forward’, a perfect fit for envisioning the future of money together. The agenda expressed the story that while cash remains a ‘given’, a lynchpin of economies and people that is enduring and consistent, digital payments and forms of digital cash are a natural extension of cash, rather than a replacement.

A story in three parts

The programme started with some big topics – an overview of the G+D group and then the future of money, followed by a panel discussion considering the evolving role of cash and the cash cycle. The panel represented the entire cash cycle, consisting of Steve Som (US Federal Reserve Financial Services), Jelena Stapf (German Bundesbank), Sebastião Bangaga (Central Bank of Angola), Bridgit Chayt (Fifth Third Bank, US) and Guillaume Nonain (European Security Transport Association).