SPEECH DATE:  16 November 2016  SPEAKER:  Cecilia Skingsley  VENUE:  FinTech Stockholm 2016, Berns  SVERIGES RIKSBANK SE-103 37 Stockholm (Brunkebergst org 11) Tel. +46 8 787 00 00 Fax +46 8 21 05 31 registratorn @ riks ban k.se www.riksb ank.s e  Should the Riksbank issue e-krona?1 Should the Riksbank issue electronic means of payment in the same way as we now issue cash? This is a natural question for a central bank, as technological advances create new opportunities, as the printing press once upon a time made it possible to print banknotes. Banknotes were a complement to the minted coins, and are so today too. Similarly, an electronic means of payment, say an e-krona, could be a complement to physical cash. This is the question I intend to discuss today. The question is particularly relevant for us in Sweden, as cash is being used to a declining extent and is sometimes difficult to get hold of. The fact that cash is no longer as easily accessible as before means that the general public finds it more difficult to get hold of money issued by the Riksbank and instead often has to use money in bank accounts with the commercial banks. This is a development steered by market forces and not by the authorities. Market forces has worked well for a long time, but developments move fast for some consumers and companies.
There was scope to manufacture standardised banknotes of sufficiently good quality. Modern banknotes are of course also a high-tech product with all their security features, but as increasing number of electronic payment forms are developed, physical cash appears increasingly outdated. Today we can say the same thing about modern communication technology as about the printing presses in the 17th century. Access to the internet is widespread, and computers, smartphones and tablets are household items. Thus, the conditions are ripe for launching more electronic payment forms. 7 8 . My point is simple, if the market can make use of the new technology to launch new and popular payment services, why shouldn't the Riksbank be able to do the same? I would claim that there is currently a need among the general public and companies to have access to central bank money and that this need will still be there in the future. Perhaps not everyone has this need and perhaps not all of the time, but as the need exists, I think the Riksbank should be able to meet it. I consider that the Riksbank should carefully consider meeting the general public’s need for central bank money by supplying this in some electronic form. Let me call them e-krona, which you can put in an e-wallet. Let me also be clear about the reason. If the Riksbank chooses to issue e-krona, it would not be to replace cash, but so that the e-krona can act as a complement to cash.