Stefan Ingves: The e-krona and the payments of the future

Speech by Mr Stefan Ingves, Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank and Chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, at the conference "DI Framtidens betalningar", Stockholm, 6 November 2018.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

When did you last pay with cash? I suspect it was rather a long time ago. In Swe-den, the Riksbank's money has been used for 350 years, so it entails a historical shift if you and all of us, completely stop using central bank money to make pay-ments. Today we can buy food, pay our bills and receive medical prescriptions without needing to leave our homes. The more goods and services we purchase digitally, the more we need rapid and simple payment services that are adapted to our new way of shopping.

Is it a problem that cash is being used less and less? Yes, in a way it is. If the Riks-bank is to fulfil its mandate, to ensure that Sweden has a payment system that is both safe and efficient, the means of payment we issue must also be used.