However, it is very important to bear in mind that access to that collateral is often lengthy and costly, eroding its net present value.3  3 / 13  BIS central bankers' speeches  As I said earlier, one of the main reasons we are concerned about high NPLs, from a macroprudential perspective, is that they weigh on bank profitability.
That is why cash will continue to play an important role in the portfolio of payment instruments in future. Nevertheless, we expect the share of cash payments at the point of sale to slip below the 50% mark over the medium term, given that cashless payment instruments are slowly but steadily gaining ground.