Piero Cipollone: Shaping the future of money

The Eurosystem has devised a comprehensive payments strategy to ensure that the money it issues remains relevant in the future. This strategy has four main objectives: maintaining central bank money's ability to settle transactions as technology evolves, strengthening Europe's resilience and strategic autonomy, fostering an integrated payments ecosystem, and supporting the international role of the euro.

The Western Balkans are also taking steps to improve payments in the region, with several countries already participating in the Single Euro Payments Area and others using a clone of the Eurosystem's fast payment system. The Eurosystem is working on several initiatives, including settling tokenised asset transactions in central bank money and interlinking fast payment systems to make cross-border payments more efficient.

Central bank money is also being protected, with the next generation of euro banknotes incorporating enhanced security features and reflecting cultural identity. Despite the trend towards digitalisation, physical cash remains a resilient form of payment and is being prepared for the future with improved security features and accessibility.

The digital euro, a digital form of cash issued by the Eurosystem, would complement banknotes and coins, offering offline functionality and cash-like privacy.