In a world increasingly dependent on digital payments, the European Central Bank (ECB) recommends that families keep a small reserve of physical money, enough for a few days, to ensure autonomy in case of crisis. This orientation arises from a study of the ECB that analyzed the role of cash in times of financial and social instability.
The role of money in crises
The warning comes from the study “Keep Calm and Carry Cash” (“Keep calm and walk with money”), which evaluated four great recent crises: Covid-19 pandemic, Russian Ukraine invasion in 2022, Greek debt crisis and Iberian blackout that occurred in April 2025. According to the same source, in all these situations, paper money proved to be irreplaceable.
Nursery is described as a “alternate tire” of the financial system, capable of maintaining liquidity even when cards, digital applications, and crowd boxes cease to work. During the March 2020 confinement, another 19.5 billion euros circulated in notes of what would be expected.
In 2022, following the invasion of Ukraine, the emission of money reached levels between six and ten times higher than normal in countries such as Balticos and Finland. More recently, Iberian blackout has left millions of people without access to digital payments, forcing the exclusive use of physical money.
How much money to have at home
Recommendations on the number of cash to keep varying the country. In Austria, the Netherlands and Finland, it is suggested between 70 and 100 euros per person, enough for 72 hours.
In Sweden, the guidance is to store the equivalent of one week of essential expenses, including food, medicines and fuel. The goal is not to accumulate large sums, but to ensure the availability of small, easy -to -use notes for fast purchases of essential goods.
Having money at home offers not only immediate liquidity, but also psychological security. Needs out electricity and internet connection, it preserves the privacy of transactions and creates a decentralized liquidity network that strengthens society in digital systems failure situations.
The same source compares the cash reserve to emergency kits, which include water, radio or flashlight, arguing that notes should be part of crisis preparation.
As referred to by, maintaining a small money reserve is not only a practical precaution, but also a way of ensuring confidence and sense of control in times of uncertainty. The entity stresses that this habit, although simple, can be decisive when technology fails, stressing the importance of cash as a resilient instrument of the financial system.
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