In short term scenarios with negative/penalty interest rates, cash is considered an option favorable to accounted money by some. It seems that a Swiss pension

In short term scenarios with negative/penalty interest rates, cash is considered an option favorable to accounted money by some. It seems that a Swiss pension fund tried to evade negative rates on deposits by withdrawing a very large amount of physical cash with the intention of vaulting it. But the bank refused to allow it to withdraw the money in the form of physical cash. http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/04/25/the-swiss-have-eliminated-the-zero-lower-bound/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/francescoppola/2015/04/25/the-sw... ADDENDUM: The OP article is more about banks imposing negative interest rates, actually triggering a renaissance in cash storage. While storing huge amounts of cash as an individual during a deflation is, from an egoistic perspective, the better option in terms of personal purchasing power (minus the obvious physical risks). That the banks and financial regulators don't like this is clear, since it's money not under their control.