an announcement would be made in november with regard to the decision on the public relations agency selected to prepare and execute a europe - wide information campaign for the introduction of the euro banknotes and coins on 1 january 2002. in this regard, i am now pleased to announce that the governing council has decided to negotiate the contract with publicis. further information on this matter can be found in a separate press release which will be issued this afternoon. finally, i should like to draw your attention to the fact that the second meeting of the governing council to be held in december has been rescheduled. as announced yesterday, the meeting has been brought forward from thursday 16 december 1999, to wednesday 15 december 1999, in order to enable several governing council members to attend a first gathering of a new forum consisting of ministers of finance and central bank governors ( the so - called “ g20 ” ), which is to be held in berlin on 16 december 1999.

cash accounted for 47 per cent of the number and 18 per cent of the value of all payments in 2013, down from 62 per cent and 29 per cent respectively in 2010. cash was used particularly intensively for low - value transactions, with consumers using cash for around two - thirds of payments under $ 20. while the use of cash is declining relative to other payment mechanisms, it will continue to have a role in the economy. indeed, as the bank has noted previously, banknotes on issue have for a long period grown broadly in line with the nominal growth in the overall economy. and the consumer use survey suggests the amount of cash in respondents ’ wallets grew between 2010 and 2013. together, this evidence suggests that cash continues to have a significant role – not just for small - value transactions, but also both as a store of value and for precautionary use when other means of payment are not available. this is one of the reasons that the reserve bank is undertaking its next generation banknote program, which will ensure that australians can continue to have confidence in the nation ’ s banknotes as an effective means of payment and secure store of wealth. but this is not inconsistent with the bank ’ s desire to encourage the efficient use of electronic payments. a more marked decline is evident in the use of cheques. the number of cheques written in australia peaked around 1995. since then, the number of cheques written each year per capita has fallen by more than 80 per cent ( from 45 to 8 ). over the same period, the number bis central bankers ’ speeches of electronic payments per capita has risen by more than 400 per cent. as the use of cheques has fallen, the per - cheque cost to financial institutions and businesses has generally risen. the market has, and continues to, respond to these pressures by looking for more efficient ways to process cheques, but they are clearly the highest cost payment instrument, as will be confirmed when the bank releases its payments cost study later this year. this decline in the use of cheques, a very expensive payment instrument, is one that the private and public sector will have to manage. part of that will involve the introduction of effective and readily available substitutes for users, and initiatives such as superstream and econveyancing are likely to be part of this. central to the industry ’ s efforts to develop new payment products and services will be the new payments platform ( npp ). i would like to use my remaining