Fabio Panetta: The present and future of money in the digital age

Lecture by Mr Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, at Federcasse (Federation of Italian Cooperative Credit Banks), Rome, 10 December 2021.

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

I would like to thank Federcasse for inviting me to speak at this edition of the Lectiones cooperativae. These lectures are an occasion to reflect on issues of broad significance and their implications for the application of the principles of cooperation. They offer us the opportunity to seek a deeper understanding of the changes taking place in the economy and in society.

The topic of this speech – the present and future of money in the digital age – has certain unique features. It is an age-old topic, because we have been talking about money for millennia, from the times of Ancient Greece and pre-Republican Rome. But at the same time it is a topical issue, because the digital revolution is transforming the role and the nature of money.

It is a subject for specialists: economists, lawyers, and technology experts. Yet it concerns each and every one of us. We all use money in one form or another – every day, and often several times a day. And we are all involved in the changes currently under way.