Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of
Sweden just published an article about Swedish retail payment market. The
outstanding value of cash in circulation has dropped to just 1% of Swedish GDP.
Market is rapidly moving away from using notes and coins!
Swedish legislation makes it possible for
retailers to refuse to accept cash. At the same time people on average are
happy to adapt new technologies for instant payments.
Undoubtedly it would be a historical change
without precedence. The central bank of Sweden is now looking for ruling a new
digital currency, called the e-krona. This is happening because after hundreds
of years, if cash stops working, it would leave all individuals to rely on the
private sector alone to get access to money and payment methods, according to
Deputy Governor.
E-krona is an alternative to issue central bank money in a digital form, as a complement to cash and the money held in bank accounts. The basic concept is that it would be digital, and have a 1-to-1 conversion with an ordinary krona held in an account at the central bank of Sweden or stored locally, for example on a card or in a mobile phone app.
This digital future of payments is not about
cryptocurrencies. It is not about blockchain, or distributed ledger technology.
It is just a way of proving certified value in a digital way. Globalization and
technology are intimately intertwined. Digital technologies are changing the
ways in which firms do business and interact with their customers and
suppliers.
0 comments:
Post a Comment