Fabio Panetta: From the payments revolution to the reinvention of money

Speech by Mr Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at the Deutsche Bundesbank conference on the "Future of Payments in Europe", Frankfurt am Main, 27 November 2020.

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

Retail payments play a fundamental role in our daily lives and for the economy. Last year, adults in the euro area made two payments per day on average. The universe of retail transactions amounted to 213 billion payments – two million every five minutes – with an estimated total value of €164 trillion.

As part of its mission to promote the smooth operation of the payment system, the Eurosystem has two main objectives in the area of retail payments. The first is to guarantee that people have access to efficient payment solutions that meet their preferences. The second is to ensure that transactions remain safe, underpinning confidence in our currency and the functioning of our economy.

Technological innovation means that the policy implications of these objectives are changing, and new opportunities and risks are emerging. Today I will present the Eurosystem's response: a strategy for empowering Europeans with efficient, inclusive and secure payments in the digital age. And I will argue that the impending revolution in payments requires us to stand ready to reinvent sovereign money.