The Federal Office of Civil Protection, the BBK, advises people to have cash on hand: Denken Sie daran, Bargeld zur Verfügung zu haben, remember to have cash available. The reason it gives is that cash machines also stop working in a power cut. It names no amount. In July 2025, Bundesbank board member Burkhard Balz said in an interview that cash can be decisive in a crisis, so that people can keep paying. Cash is independent of electricity, networks and digital interfaces. Bargeld lässt sich nicht hacken, he said, cash cannot be hacked.