Stefan Ingves: Money and payments - where are we heading?
The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.
Today, I am going to talk about money. This is a subject that concerns us all – most of us use money practically every day. But we probably don’t give much thought to how important it is that our daily purchases can be carried out smoothly. It’s more or less the same as not giving so much thought to your health as long as you’re healthy. But once you get sick, it becomes almost the only thing you can think about. Our system for payments is similar; as long as it works se-curely and efficiently, we don’t think about it. And, to continue the analogy: It is the Riksbank’s task to ensure that the payment system remains healthy and con-tributes to a well-functioning society.
Right now, we, at the Riksbank, are devoting a lot of time to issues regarding pay-ments and the payment system. The background to this is formed by the rapid changes on the payment market and the rapid decrease in cash usage in Sweden – a development that we are practically alone in, worldwide. Only a few other coun-tries are undergoing a similar, albeit less dramatic, development.1 This means that we have to take