Page 4/10  supervisory measures taken in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, the capital buffers and liquidity positions of most banks have improved in recent years. Let me conclude this section with two observations. First, crisis resilience requires more than good crisis management skills. Fending off a crisis depends not only on what policymakers do once the crisis has erupted. It also hinges on what has been done to render the financial system as a whole more resilient ahead of a new shock. Second, policy coordination and cohesion matter. Although the SNB has reaffirmed its important role as a crisis manager, monetary policy alone is not a panacea. We mentioned earlier the powerful effect of the concerted efforts of central banks to calm financial markets and instil confidence. The same is true at the national level. The unique nature of the COVID-19 crisis required an unprecedented combination of fiscal and monetary policy. Fiscal policy directly supported households’ and firms’ incomes, while monetary policy supported bank credit provisioning and dealt effectively with the risk of financial market turmoil. The two policy areas complemented each other while remaining within their respective remits. So far, we have discussed how the COVID-19 pandemic shock prompted the SNB to react with a set of timely and targeted policy responses. Let us now turn our attention to a different facet of the COVID-19 pandemic, namely, how it has catalysed digitalisation and what the implications of this development might be for the SNB.
6 Today, digitalisation and improvements in communication technology are pushing up demand for payments to be instantaneous and available round the clock. This demand is largely being driven by the proliferation of mobile payment apps. Instant payments are increasingly becoming the new standard around the world. 7 They will help to improve the efficiency of the payment system and enable synergies with new technologies and business models. The SNB is committed to instant payments. Last year, it helped launch the SIC5 project. SIC5 will introduce improved functionalities, such as a new settlement algorithm and higher processing performance. It will also include a new instant payments module to help make instant customer payments the new normal. To this end, the SNB has decided that participants with a high number of customer payments must be able to receive instant payments in SIC5. The SNB has thereby created the necessary framework conditions for ensuring that the cashless payment system in Switzerland remains efficient, secure and ‘future-proof’. 6 7  Cf. SNB press release of 11 January 2019, ‘Swiss National Bank sets criteria for fintech companies’ access to Swiss Interbank Clearing’. BIS, ‘Shaping the future of payments’, available at www.bis.org/statistics/payment_stats/commentary1911.htm. Page 6/10  Ultimately, however, the specific retail payment solutions will have to come from the private sector. To be genuinely effective, instant payment solutions must be implemented all the way to the end customer. Offering such solutions often requires significant adjustments to banks’ internal payment processes.