Switzerland Seeks to Enshrine Role of Cash With Altered Proposal

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s government backs enshrining cash in the constitution before a national vote in March, but with wording that differs from that of campaigners seeking to safeguard the status of physical money.

The executive proposes adding two sentences stating that the Swiss currency is the franc and that the Swiss National Bank guarantees the supply of cash.

That contrasts with the demands of the right-wing Swiss Freedom Movement, which collected more than 100,000 signatures as part of a popular initiative to bring the matter before voters. It proposed a specific reference to banknotes and coins, and a declaration that the government is obligated to always provide enough of them.

“The Federal Council and parliament disagree with the wording of the initiative,” Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said on Tuesday in Bern. “The counterproposal achieves the same goal without creating legal uncertainty.”

Voters will decide on March 8 whether the government’s plan, or that of the campaigners — or none of them — will be adopted.

Keller-Sutter said that neither proposal has any practical implications. Even so, the government moved to draft the counterproposal to recognize that “cash is a topic that people are concerned about.”

Switzerland was traditionally one of Europe’s economies most devoted to using bills and coins, though as with other countries, cash used dropped rapidly in recent years, with the Covid pandemic giving the process a significant push. In 2024, physical money was employed in just 30% of transactions, down from 70% in 2017, according to SNB data. Most people pay using debit cards.

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