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The Government has no plans to force businesses to accept cash, MPs have heard.
Economic secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds was speaking to the Treasury Committee as part of its inquiry into cash acceptance.
She told the hearing: “We have no plans to regulate businesses to compel them to accept cash – big or small.”

From: Government has no plans to force businesses to accept cash, MPs hear | The Standard.

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One in nine Swiss residents invest in cryptocurrencies. However, most do so out of curiosity rather than financial reasons.

From: One in nine Swiss invest in crypto assets – SWI swissinfo.ch.

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Given the growing amount of personal, financial and medical data on our phones, last week’s Home Office clash with Apple, which led to the withdrawal of its most secure cloud encryption services from the UK, is remarkably ill-timed. Yes, we need to crack down on the fraud gangs. But this shouldn’t come at the cost of compromising safety for millions of consumers.

From: Will the police really try to find your stolen iPhone?.

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Now, decision ECB/2025/2 of 27th January 2025 on access by non-bank payment service providers to Eurosystem central bank operated payment systems and central bank accounts sounds quite boring. But it is actually really important to the European fintech sector.

One of the ways to bring competition to financial services is to

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In January, hackers launched a cyberattack on what might seem an unlikely target: PowerSchool, a provider of student systems for the educational industry. While the young individuals tracked by PowerSchool may not have much money of their own, their identities are worth a great deal to cybercriminals.

Among child ID fraud victims, social media ownership is a common thread. Nearly all child identity fraud victims in the past six years were active social media users when their identities were compromised. This highlights the importance of  parents preparing their children for the threats posed by social media.

From: Stealing Children’s Identities: The Threat Parents Overlook – PaymentsJournal.

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Newly released SAR filings data for 2024 is hot off the press. And it is revealing a troubling trend in fraud for banks; fraud is up significantly in three problem areas – account takeovers, identity theft and wire fraud.
The new data filed by US financial institutions, reveals a startling trend: reports of account takeover fraud jumped 36%, identity fraud 27% and wire fraud over 20% in 2024.

From: New SAR Data: ATO, Identity Theft and Wire Fraud Are Up Big – Frank on Fraud.

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Despite pulling in half of all scam revenue in 2024, HYIS inflows declined by 36.6% YoY, while pig butchering revenue increased by almost 40% YoY.

From: 2024 Pig Butchering Crypto Scam Revenue Grows 40% YoY as Industry Increases Sophistication.

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Digital Identity Approaches: The US vs the EU
Despite fundamental differences in governance structures, both the US and the European Union are making significant strides in digital identity, with their respective frameworks showing signs of interoperability.
The United States: The Ascendancy of Mobile Driver’s Licenses (mDLs)
After a protracted period of stagnation, the US is witnessing rapid adoption of mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs), issued at the state level.
While not yet designated as formal identity documents, mDLs are expected to function analogously to their physical counterparts, particularly as they gain traction in regulatory and commercial use cases.
The TSA (Transportation Security Administration) has formally approved the use of mDLs for domestic air travel, marking a significant milestone in digital identity acceptance.
The Biden Administration’s Cybersecurity Executive Order has allocated federal funding to accelerate mDL adoption, recognising the technology’s potential in enhancing digital security and reducing identity fraud.
The mDL movement, which originated in Louisiana, is now proliferating across multiple states. However, the trajectory of federal support remains contingent on policy direction under the incoming administration.
The European Union: The eIDAS Digital Identity Mandate
In contrast to the state-driven evolution of US digital identity, the EU is implementing a centralized regulatory mandate under the eIDAS (Electronic Identification, Authentication and Trust Services) Regulation.
Member states are legally obligated to provide digital identity wallets to all citizens by 2026, ensuring cross-sectoral acceptance by 2027.
Large-scale pilot programs are underway, integrating public and private sector stakeholders to validate interoperability and security standards.
The WE BUILD initiative, a newly unveiled EU pilot, aims to refine implementation strategies through collaborative industry participation.
In a landmark move, the European Commission has mandated that EU digital identity wallets adhere to ISO 18013 protocols, aligning them with US mDL standards.
This cross-continental standardisation is poised to facilitate seamless identity verification between the EU and the US, signalling an unprecedented level of global interoperability.
The UK’s Position: Lagging or Strategically Observing?
Caught between the US. and EU approaches, the UK government has announced a 2025 rollout of a digital identity wallet, incorporating a digital driver’s license.
However, the announcement was light on specifics, and the UK’s progress in digital identity remains comparatively sluggish.
Given the rapid developments in the US and EU, it is likely that growing international standardisation will exert pressure on the UK to accelerate its efforts in establishing a cohesive digital identity strategy.
A Defining Year for Global Digital Identity Ecosystems
The alignment of ISO 18013 standards across the US and EU represents a transformative moment in digital identity adoption, providing the foundation for cross-border authentication and identity verification.

From: Digital ID 2025: Regulatory imperatives, technological advancement.

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As I am huge payments nerd, I love reading through the very detailed surveys that the Fed and European Central Bank (ECB) produce, because I am always keen to see if there are trends emerging. The ECB latest survey is out now, and at least one trend is clear.

At a high level, the results are what you would expect. Around a fifth of European consumers’ day-to-day payments were made online, accounting for more than a third of consumer payments by value, and while the proportion of transactions conducted in cash continued to fall, cash is still half of all transactions at physical point of sale (POS).

(In terms of value, the most important single payment instrument was cards, but their share has fallen slightly since the last survey.)

If we focus on online transactions, almost half were in cards. The share of e-payment solutions (ie, digital wallets and mobile apps) was at 29% (up from 26%).

The large majority of recurring payments were made using direct debit, with credit transfers ranking in second place.

In 2024, 55% of euro area consumers expressed a preference for cards and other cashless payments when paying in a shop, while 22% preferred cash and 23% had no clear preference. Stated payment preferences were unchanged from 2022.

An increasing majority of euro area consumers, amounting to 62% (60%), considered it important or very important to have cash as a payment option. The perceived key advantages of cash were, first, its anonymity and protection of privacy and, second, the perception that it makes consumers more aware of their own expenses. This tied in with the majority of euro area consumers (58%) said they were concerned about their privacy when performing digital payments or other banking activities.

Most euro area consumers said they were satisfied with their access to cash, but this satisfaction has decreased slightly. A large majority, i.e. 87% (89%) of consumers, find it fairly easy or very easy to get to an ATM or a bank. Most consumers, i.e. 57%, never paid a fee when withdrawing cash from an ATM whereas 11% paid a fee always or most of the time.

A majority of euro area consumers (57%) said they had the option of withdrawing cash at shop counters.

The share of euro area consumers holding a payment account increased from 91% in 2022 to 93% in 2024. The share of consumers who own a payment card decreased from 94% in 2022 to 92% in 2024.

In 2024, 24% of euro area consumers reported that in the past month the payment method they would have preferred to use at physical locations was not always offered by the merchant or payee.

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Chase UK debuted in the CMA/IPSOS survey last August in a strong third place. It was an impressive entry for Chase, polling behind only Monzo and Starling for personal current accounts, overall service quality.

From: Chase UK beats Monzo and Starling to rank first in personal banking satisfaction survey – GlobalData.

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