Today, Finland and the other Nordic countries are pretty advanced in the electrification of payments, and most people can go about their daily lives perfectly well without touching cash. And many do so. Contactless payment cards are among the new developments which, by their convenience, pose a serious challenge to cash in terms of sheer technical efficiency and timesaving.
This means that next year it will be our turn and pleasure to host events in Frankfurt to mark our tenth anniversary! Perhaps one issue of common interest we could discuss today is how our two institutions may, in the words of Cicero, “support the burden of advancing age”! 1 But this is not the homework you had assigned me to do.