IMIA – Making the Case for Cash and Coins

Until recently there was no collective voice for coins and the minting community. Now there are two.

One is the International Mint Directors Association (IMDA), which aims to encourage and develop best practice, technical development and innovation in the minting community, including in areas such as sustainability (see October issue of Coin & Mint News).

The other is the International Mint Industry Association (IMIA), which has a more specific focus on research and advocacy for coins as part of the cash, and hence payments, ecosystem. IMIA President Gerhard Starsich and Managing Director Martina Horakova spoke to CMN about the foundation of the new association, the role of coins in the cash cycle and how the IMIA plans to make the case for their importance, and indeed that of cash overall.

Q: What was the impetus behind the founding of the IMIA? Why now?

GS: It was about time! International card companies and commercial banks invest a lot of money to promote electronic payment products, whereas the promotion of cash by the industry and its consumer and societal benefits has been far too little in comparison.

Selected mints conducted national cash campaigns and international fora offered relevant reports, seminars and conferences, but these were rather inward looking. There was a real need for the mint industry to step in and step up the pro-cash efforts.

We aim to significantly advocate on the global level for cash and coins as an integral part of future financial systems, for society as such and for our industry.

Q: What does the membership look like – is the association restricted to mints only or open to the wider industry?

GS: The IMIA was founded and established this summer and, as in its name, is an industry association, constituting of and welcoming both public and private mints and industry suppliers. I am the President of the Board. Marc Schwartz, Chairman & CEO of Monnaie de Paris, is the Vice President and Günther Waadt, CEO of the Bavarian Mint, is the Secretary to the Board. The association is being strategically, operationally and policy led by Martina as its Managing Director.

Q: The name is ‘International’, but it appears to be very much European-focused judging by the founder members. Can you comment?

GS: Thank you for asking that, the European focus is a misconception. IMIA has indeed been founded by six European mints, but that was purely in order to speed up the foundation process, which I am pleased to say we succeeded in. We are a truly international association.

MH: To add to Gerhard, yes, we are open and engaging with mints and suppliers internationally. Furthermore, we are also active in our advocacy and research across jurisdictions, because we live in a globalised world and issues aren’t purely national. Not just in terms of a globalised economy, but policies and developments in one jurisdiction inspire or take precents in others.

Saying that, yes, it is also about analysing in-depth each jurisdiction and our members’ circumstances individually, in terms of socio-economic, market and governmental structures, to see what works and what doesn’t, and what good lessons and approaches could be applied elsewhere.

In essence, the association is a content and research knowledge management hub, for and on behalf of our members as well as policymakers.

Q: What are its principal goals and priorities?

GS: IMIA’s vision and mission is to guarantee and protect inclusive, democratic, resilient and sustainable coin and cash access and acceptance as a public democratic good for all.

MH: It aims to increase positive awareness and appreciation of cash and coins for economic resilience, citizens’ privacy and economic freedoms. To do so we are engaging in dialogue not only with policymakers but also crucially with consumers and merchants’ associations.

Q: Do you have any specific work programs or plans in place? If so, what?

MH: We are working on two position papers and one research area.

Firstly, we will be providing analysis on the issue of the legal tender status of euro cash and the potential status of a future digital euro. The European Commission did a targeted consultation on this earlier this year, but we weren’t established at that time, so we are catching up on this issue, which we believe is of major importance for the future of cash, not just in the eurozone, but also as a precedence for jurisdictions globally.

Secondly, we will be publishing our first short IMIA white paper in early February. The working title is ‘Role of Cash and Coins in Society & Economy’. In this we want to give an idea of where we are coming from.

Thirdly, we are monitoring and also already engaging with policymakers on the issue of current coin recirculation challenges.

And of course, we do all that by reviewing and analysing initiatives and programmes of central banks and governments to keep abreast and be involved in current and upcoming cash and coins developments, challenges and policy debates affecting the future of the mint industry.

Q: Where do you see the key priorities (and challenges) for mints? To what extent will the IMIA help address these?

GH: The key challenge for the mint industry in the next few years will be to hold its market position. The card companies are fighting to increase their market share in the payment market. Our target is that the customers have free choice for their preferred means of payment. Cash should, in our view, be accepted at all points of sale.

For this we need to explain and inform policymakers and stakeholders about qualities of cash such as higher security level, high speed, high level of data protection, sustainability, financial education and low transaction price.

MH: A key priority for the mint industry also is to improve its environmental footprint. Here, the IMIA wants to promote the progress done by individual mints, but also the research and work underway by the European-based Mint Directors Working Group (MDWG) and the International Mint Directors Association (IMDA).

Q: Will the IMIA be standalone, or will you seek partnerships with related associations?

MH: Both, standalone and in partnership. Standalone, as we are an important voice for cash. There is strength in numbers. Have you seen the ratio of responses to policy issue papers and calls for evidence in the recent years, in terms number of electronic payments interest groups vs pro- cash organisations?

So, we develop and supply our own positions, but we do cooperate and exchange research and analytics with other associations in the space, because unity is of impact.

Now, the standalone voice and knowledge of the mint industry is important, because if there are no coins, there is no change and without change we can’t have cash acceptance. And where we differ and bring a unique added value is the fact that as mints we are very close to ministries of finance and central banks, and so we have and are strengthening these trusting relationships.

Q: What has been the reaction in the industry, and further afield, to the establishment of the IMIA?

MH: Very positive.

Firstly, we have a bilateral approach to member acquisitions. This means that we are having in-depth dialogue with heads of mints about their specific needs and challenges, as well as successes, in their jurisdictions.

Secondly, policymakers, globally, are already giving us their ear, they appreciate that we are an industry association with a policy person at its top and they value that they now have one industry body to approach on all coin matters. Some central banks are even encouraging their mints to join us as members.

Thirdly, in the last couple of months we have already established cooperation with other policy active associations, such as the International Currency Association (ICA), European Cash Management Companies Association (ESTA), the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) or Denaria Platform in Spain.

Gerhard Starsich

Gerhard has been the CEO of the Austrian Mint since July 2011 and a member of the board since 2008. During his career he was engaged at the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank) as well as the European Monetary Institute, the forerunner of the European Central Bank.

He was also, as Managing Director, in charge of the successful restructuring of APSS GmbH (Austrian Payment Systems Services) and Austria Card Plastikkarten und Ausweissysteme GmbH, as well as the integration of Austria Card into the Lykos Inform Group. He is a commercial science graduate.

Martina Horakova

Martina has over 15 years of experience developing thought leadership in central banking and regulatory policy affairs and conducting research focusing on currency and cash, digital payments and central bank digital currency.

She worked for a decade at Central Banking Publications, where she strategically led and developed high- level policy making seminars and training and edited and published various articles and books. She studied Economics at FU Berlin and holds an MSc in Financial Systems and Economic Development from SOAS University of London.