Decree on the Swiss currency and cash supply

Yes or no?

What exactly is it about?

In Switzerland, people increasingly pay without cash, for example with cards or payment apps. According to a National Bank survey from 2024, 95 percent of the population want cash to remain available as a means of payment. Today the law states that the Swiss National Bank ensures the supply of cash and that the franc is Switzerland's currency. The popular initiative «Cash is Freedom» wants to anchor these points in the Constitution, using its own wording. The Federal Council and Parliament disagree with that wording and set against it a direct counter-proposal, the decree on the Swiss currency and cash supply. It takes over two existing legal provisions largely unchanged into the Constitution. According to the Federal Council, the counter-proposal has no practical effects: it creates no new tasks and no additional costs, and no right to pay in cash. The provisions could however only be changed with a majority of the people and the cantons. The initiative and the counter-proposal are voted on separately, with a tie-breaker question in case both are accepted.

What is disputed?

The Federal Council and Parliament recommend a yes. They argue that the counter-proposal strengthens the legal standing of cash and the franc and takes up the initiative's legitimate concerns. It adopts proven, legally clear wording from existing laws and leaves out unnecessary provisions. A minority in Parliament recommends a no. Some members of the National Council consider the counter-proposal, like the initiative, unnecessary because the current legal situation is sufficient. The initiative committee, which supports the initiative, also criticises the counter-proposal: the term «cash» is imprecise and could also mean digital central bank money. It also gives responsibility to the National Bank without obliging the Confederation.

Party recommendations