Cash

While gift cards are often marketed as an easy way to send money to friends and family, during the pandemic they're transforming into a more versatile tool of commerce that can overtake the use cases commonly associated with cash.

Even as consumers shift more spending away from cash and the market for personal travel picks up, the coronavirus pandemic is still exerting a heavy toll on Mastercard's consumer and corporate spending.

Bank of America has seen a 33% increase in cash gifts flowing through the Zelle P2P app since the start of the pandemic, with total gifting volume reaching $1 billion.

For the 44.6 million households who rent, coming into the crisis almost 27% were already paying half or more of their monthly income on housing. That meant they had litte ability to save for an emergency, let alone a pandemic that would cause record job losses.

With the U.K. careening toward a no-deal Brexit in the midst of a health crisis and economic downturn, the government is suggesting a breakup with the EU could defray the costs of cash usage and access.

Many consumers around the world rely on cash-based payments, even when shopping online, says PPRO's Steve Villegas.

Digital money will have to coexist with cash and other forms of tender, according to a report by the Bank of International Settlements, the Federal Reserve and other institutions.

For many U.S. cities and counties, the high number of walk-in payments and checks typically received for services, permits and fees has been aggravating but acceptable — until coronavirus struck.

Brink's has seen a 20% increase since January in the amount of cash processed in its own systems, signaling that as users return to stores they’re choosing to pay with cash.

Dodger Stadium looks odd now — filled with fake crowd noise and cardboard cutout spectators — but in this downtime it's putting in an almost entirely invisible 5G wireless connection and new point of sale system.