Published: 21/01/2025

4 currency trends for 2025
As we kick off 2025, Spotlight reflects on the past year and explores the key currency trends that will continue to shape the future of the cash industry.

Trend 1: Cash is here to stay
Digital payment options and central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are on the rise, but cash remains a vital pillar of the global financial system. It’s inclusive. It’s fast. It’s private. It’s universally understood. In short, it’s not going anywhere.
That fact is reflected in the continued growth, rather than decline, of currency in circulation despite the deluge of digital payment alternatives available. For many, the tangible nature of cash – the cold, hard feel of it in one’s pocket – is part of the allure, while the inherent trust and reliability of cash remains undiminished. In times of crisis, cash is still seen as the best store of value, especially in regions underserved by the financial system.
Interestingly, cash is also finding renewed relevance among younger generations. The TikTok-driven budgeting trend known as “cash stuffing” – where physical money is allocated to envelopes for controlled spending – highlights its resurgence in popularity among Gen Z and the value that cash holds as a tool for financial discipline and security.
Looking ahead, however, education and awareness will be essential for preserving cash’s valued role in society. As CBDCs become more mainstream and digital payment options continue to expand, highlighting cash’s unique strengths – such as its security, privacy, and reliability – will ensure it remains a trusted and accessible choice for all.

Trend 2: Enhancing cash cycle efficiency with standardisation
Improving operational efficiency is another high priority for organisations under increasing pressure to adapt to fast-changing market conditions. In the cash cycle, this means tackling challenges such as fluctuating demand for banknotes, rising cash processing costs, and the need to improve sustainability throughout the supply chain (Trend 1).
Strategies to address these issues so far have included investing in higher levels of automation, improving visibility across the cash cycle, strengthening resilience in the supply chain, and switching to sustainable materials and practices. However, new standardised containers are ushering in a new era of operational efficiency for the cash industry.
The introduction of the NotaTray® Ecosystem – a reusable, standardised tray system for stacking, packaging, and transporting banknotes – provides a wide range of benefits across the wider cash cycle:
- Speeds up cash packaging and transportation processes
- Enhances cash security by minimising human intervention
- Eliminates single-use plastic packaging, reducing waste and supporting sustainability goals
- Integrates seamlessly with existing automated banknote processing systems
NotaTray® is to the cash industry what the logistics container was to global shipping in the 1950s – a game-changer. And its impact is already being felt.
“The NotaTray® Ecosystem helps us reach our sustainability goals,” says Péter Klein, Head of Control and Technology Support at Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB), Hungary’s central bank. After implementing the NotaTray® in 2022, MNB was able to save 100,000 metres of plastic foil in its first year alone. Meanwhile, its CIT partner Criterion, which processes 18 trillion forints annually, reported significant efficiency gains.
Collaboration was key to the successful implementation. “It’s quite natural that when an innovation comes on the market, it’s strange at first,” says Dr. Anikó Bódi-Schubert, Head of the Cash Issuance Strategic Department at MNB: “New ideas require a new way of thinking, a new way of working.” To facilitate the transition, MNB provided commercial partners with free NotaTrays and extensive support for adopting the ecosystem. These measures highlight the proactive role central banks must play in streamlining cash processes and with new automated systems.

Trend 3: Making cash green
In our increasingly eco-conscious world, cash – one of the oldest forms of payment – is evolving to meet sustainability expectations. But what does it take to make cash green?
One solution starts at the production level with green factories – an industry-agnostic concept that prioritises sustainability from the ground up. An effective green factory design is holistic by nature, encompassing everything from the energy and water usage of the building itself, to the efficiency of the manufacturing processes it houses. Simply installing carbon-efficient machinery alone isn’t enough.
Efforts to make cash greener don’t stop at production; with billions of banknotes taken out of circulation each year, the end-of-life phase is also a focus point for the industry. While innovative solutions already exist – some banknotes are composted into agricultural soil improvers, others are used in energy recovery facilities, and some even fuel industrial processes such as ceramics kilns – the industry has lacked a comprehensive solution for recycling banknotes.
To address this challenge, G+D has developed a breakthrough technology for repurposing both cotton-based and hybrid banknotes in a fully sustainable way. “Banknote fibre extraction can be a sustainability game-changer for the entire currency industry,” said Ferdinand Storek, Head of Cash Life Cycle Solutions at G+D.
This new solution breaks down banknotes in a way that preserves the integrity of the cotton and cellulose fibres, so they can be more easily repurposed into a variety of everyday products – from traditional paper to fibre-injection-moulded items and packaging solutions. As a result, central banks and printworks partners can make a demonstrable contribution to their sustainability agendas, supporting a circular economy and reducing reliance on virgin materials.
Naturally, discussions around building new green factories raise concerns about infrastructure costs. Here, it pays to view the potential benefits through a more holistic lens – sustainability isn’t a net cost to business. On the contrary, it can lead to demonstrable value in terms of cost savings and other efficiencies, while also meeting consumer and employee expectations and boosting an organisation’s reputation.
Trend 4: Offline payments are finally here
In 2024, global digital payments reached an estimated $12 trillion, with annual growth projected at 13% for the rest of the decade. However, millions of people in remote areas remain excluded from the digital economy, relying solely on cash due to a lack of internet access.
Fortunately, this is changing. Recent breakthroughs in offline payments enable direct transfer of digital money tokens between payer and payee devices without requiring a connection to any ledger or back-end system. Settlement is instant, with the transferred value immediately available to the payee. Both parties can remain offline indefinitely.
Offline payments expand financial inclusion in underserved areas, while also enhancing system resilience during outages or disasters. Crucially, they also provide privacy protections that are notably lacking in digital transactions. In short, they are secure, immediate, and resilient – just like cash. This is also a critical success factor for central banks exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a means of complementing cash. A CBDC without offline simply cannot deliver on its promised benefits.
With its Filia® Unplugged solution, G+D is leading the way with innovation in this space. Tried and tested in commercial banks in Brazil and Hong Kong, Filia® Unplugged integrates seamlessly with existing offerings like tokenised deposit systems or money mobile services.

Key takeaways
- Despite the proliferation of digital payments, cash remains essential for financial inclusion, privacy, and resilience, appealing across generations.
- Standardised NotaTray® Ecosystem is streamlining processes and driving efficiency in the cash cycle.
- Innovations such as green factories and banknote recycling are making the currency industry more eco-friendly.
- Offline payments enable private, immediate, and cash-like digital transactions without power or an internet connection.
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