•  The Denaria Platform organised a conference entitled ‘Financial Inclusion in Spain. Cash as a safe and sustainable solution' at the Congress of Deputies.

• Rupérez emphasised that cash is a ‘safe’ means of payment and the option most used by consumers, but regretted that it is not accepted everywhere and it is becoming ‘increasingly difficult’ to withdraw money or find cash machines and bank branches. ‘The consequences are the financial and social exclusion of millions of people who need cash,’ he warned.

• Rupérez argued that cash ‘ensures autonomy and freedom’ because it does not depend on technology or electricity, is fast, secure against cyber-attacks and inclusive. However, he revealed that the organisation is receiving ‘daily complaints’ from people who are refused the option of paying in cash and ‘a large part’ come from public sector companies, such as sports facilities, music festivals or even renting despite the new Housing Law.

• Rupérez also regretted that the maximum cash payment is 1,000 euros in Spain when ‘the European Commission recommends that this limit should be 10,000 euros’, while defending the fact that cash ‘is more environmentally friendly’ than digital money.

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A round table focused on cash as a means of autonomy of coexistence, personal autonomy and collective organisation, with the participation of the Spanish Committee of Representatives of People with Disabilities (Cermi), Down España, the Spanish Confederation of Organisations for the Elderly (Ceoma) and the Association of Families and Women in Rural Areas (Afammer).

‘Under suspicion’ of fraud

From Cermi, its executive director, Pilar Villarino, advocated considering cash as a consumer right and the free choice of means of payment. In any case, she did agree that all options should be accessible to people with disabilities.

‘For Cermi, cash is a clear tool for financial inclusion and social participation, and we support calls for cash to be considered a social good because, for Cermi, it empowers people with disabilities who would otherwise be financially excluded,’ said Villarino. Along these lines, he called for a ‘personalised’ benefit for these people.

For his part, the president of Ceoma, José Luis Fernández, denounced the fact that citizens who want to use cash to pay are ‘suspected of being fraudsters’. ‘People by definition are not fraudsters,’ he said, to general applause from the room.

Fernández also questioned the banks' obligation for citizens to have credit cards and to charge for them in certain cases.

He took the opportunity to refer to the digital euro project launched by the European Central Bank (ECB) and expressed his ‘concern’ that it would ‘control’ any citizen's movements.

Down España's manager, Agustín Matía, also pointed out the ‘Treasury's obsession with control’ and defended ‘giving options’ and allowing everyone to choose how they prefer to pay.

Along the same lines, Miguel Padilla, secretary general of COAG, defined the organisation as a ‘fervent’ defender of cash payment due to its predominance in the rural world and pointed out that ‘the fraudsters are elsewhere and, surely, they are not pursued in the same way’ as citizens. He also complained that the public services ‘are mainly the ones who put obstacles in the way’.

For Afammer, its secretary general, Rita Mateos, added that cash should be considered ‘a public service of the first order’ and is a ‘pillar’ of the local economy.

Choosing between so many options

The session also hosted a round table made up of PSOE, PP, Vox, Sumar and Junts MPs, in which PSOE, PP and Vox agreed that the different payment options should coexist and that the user should be the one to decide.

Thus, Guillermo Hita, of the PSOE, explained that, on the one hand, there are shops and administrations that ‘are getting carried away’ and ‘doing a disservice’ by not accepting cash, and on the other hand ‘there are people who also complain about those places where you can't pay with a card’, concluding that it is a ‘problem of compatibility’ and of ‘continuing to be able to do what each person chooses’.

Hita also responded to criticism of the Treasury for trying to control citizens by pointing out that ‘any society that wants to achieve freedom has to have controls’ and said that citizens are not ‘persecuted’ by the State and the work of the Treasury ‘at no time is persecutory’.

From the PP, Juan Bravo acknowledged that there are legal elements that ‘perhaps are not proportionate’, such as the sanction of 150,000 euros for paying more than 1,000 euros with physical money or not being able to use this means to pay rent.

For Vox, Pedro Fernández called for ‘freedom, justice and security’ with regard to cash payments and said that Parliament would be vigilant to ensure that initiatives do not limit these principles because ‘it seems that there are movements that are warning us that cash is at risk’.

For Sumar, Carlos Martín focused on the banking sector to point out that ‘these huge profits from banking should be made compatible with the provision of basic services’ and said that Sumar will present a legislative initiative on this issue at the end of the summer to ensure that there are ‘public service obligations for the banking sector, where cash is going to be among them’. He also insisted on ‘recovering’ public banking through the Caja Postal to reach rural populations.

Martín brought up crypto-asset payments for debate and considered that ‘they are a way of great fraud’, to which Juan Bravo added that ‘criminals find an opportunity anywhere’ and not only in crypto-currencies, and Guillermo Hita was in favour of regulating them ‘with strength’ because, otherwise, ‘they are going to bring us a serious disappointment’.

For Junts, Isidre Gavín defended making fraud control compatible with payment with physical money.

Isabel Valldecabres, President and CEO of the Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, spoke at the closing ceremony. She pointed out that the fear of the digital euro is not justified, as personal data are mainly held by companies such as Bizum, Visa and Mastercard because of the ‘joy’ with which they are shared. He also recalled that the ECB has argued that cash should continue to be guaranteed the same level of acceptance as any other payment when the digital euro is in place. She also wondered ‘how something that would have to be invented if it did not exist is going to disappear’.

The President of the Mint also drew attention to the fact that ‘the big bag’ of fraud is to be found in movements of large amounts that are not those handled by the public.

Source: Servimedia