EU should guarantee people’s right to use physical cash – Doherty

The European Commission should provide a guarantee that people will always have the right to use physical cash if they wish and that cash will not be replaced by digital payment options, Senator Regina Doherty, Dublin European Election Candidate for Fine Gael has said.

“The European Central Bank has noted a decline in the use of cash for transactions at the point of sale across the Euro area to 59% of transactions, down from 79% in 2016 and 72% in 2019,” Senator Doherty explained.

“To reflect a desire for more diverse payment methods, the Commission has proposed new legislation in a number of areas, including payment services, instant transfers, and a new digital euro that would have the status of legal tender. All this will be decided upon, by MEPs in the upcoming European Parliamentary term.

For many people, cash remains an important source of payment and this will not change. While it is right that we look at options for people who want to use cashless and digital forms of payment, this should not come at the expense of cash. People want to know conclusively that proposals from the European Commission for things like a Digital Euro do not mean that cash will no longer remain an option for payment for those who wish to use it.

“Issues of inclusion in our economy are very important. If elected to the European Parliament, I will work to ensure that EU legislation is enacted to finally establish the legal tender of Euro banknotes and cash. This will help to guarantee that cash will always remain an option for payment and that cashless options will not fully replace cash for those who wish to use it. People who still wish to use cash, particularly older people, should not feel like they are being excluded as the use of cash declines and digital payment options increase.

“It is especially important that digital payment options, such as the Digital Euro proposal, address concerns that people have about privacy and data security. I would like to see these issues such as these addressed directly during the legislative process. It is right to be ambitious, but we need to make sure we bring people along with us. If elected, I will work with colleagues in the European Parliament to increase data protections and privacy controls in all digital payment frameworks.”