News

Position paper champions the right to choose cash

'It boils down to giving consumers the economic freedom of choice expected in all self-respecting free economies,' ATMIA CEO says.

May 11, 2015

A position paper released today by the ATM Industry Association today asserts that the right of citizens to choose to use cash to pay for goods and services is a matter of economic freedom.

"ATMIA believes strongly that all citizens in all free countries have the right to choose whichever form of money they find most convenient and trustworthy," said ATMIA CEO Mike Lee. "This right should never be arbitrarily taken away."

In its position paper, the nonprofit trade group points out that worldwide cash demand continues to grow at far higher rates than the average global GDP, and that this trend is forecasted to last for the foreseeable future.

Retail Banking Research forecasts that annual ATM cash withdrawal volumes worldwide will grow by an average of 7.9 percent per year between 2013 and 2019. This compares very favorably with the International Monetary Fund's forecasted global growth of between 3.5 and 3.7 percent from 2015 to 2016.

"But it's not just a question of data, or even trends," Lee said. "It boils down to giving consumers the economic freedom of choice expected in all self-respecting free economies. Since cash is a form of public money issued by central banks, it is not surprising that the world sees cash as publicly issued trust."

Read the position paper.

Included In This Story

---

ATM Industry Association (ATMIA)

The ATM Industry Association, founded in 1997, is a global non-profit trade association with over 10,500 members in 65 countries. The membership base covers the full range of this worldwide industry comprising over 2.2 million installed ATMs.

Request Info

Learn More