This scenario could be a real threat to incumbents, in particular if digital giants, who already have access to large amounts of customer data, were to start targeting parts of the banking value chain, which would limit banks’ ability to cross-sell and, ultimately, crowd banks out of a large swathe of financial services. For society as a whole, would this scenario be worse?
7 (7) Ali, R., Barrdear, J., Clews, R. and J. Southgate (2014), “Innovations in payment technologies and the  emergence of digital currencies”, Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Vol. 54, No. 3, pages 262–75. 8 (8) Barrdear, J. and M. Kumhof (2016), “The Macroeconomics of Central Bank Issued Digital Currencies”, No. 605, Bank of England.