Examples include linking the payment application to retailers’ customer programmes, or cross-institutional analysis and visualisation of end customers’ payment data. Experiments are being conducted in China on linking face recognition technology and payment transactions, opening up the possibility of making payments in the future by smiling into the seller’s camera. In this process of innovation, it is of course essential that the key questions relating to aspects such as misuse or criminal usage as well as the protection of customers are addressed effectively and coordinated internationally. It is therefore important that the same business models with the same risks be subject to the same regulation. As part of its statutory mandate, the SNB also has a role to play when it comes to innovations in the field of cashless payments. Specifically, it is the commissioning party and system manager of SIC. At infrastructure level, the latter’s function is to offer the most attractive framework possible for a cashless payment system that is fast and ensures high availability. The SNB works together with stakeholders on the ongoing development of the SIC system. One year ago, for example, the operating hours of this system were adjusted at the request of the participants. However, end customers’ needs in respect of payment transactions are best met by private sector solutions. Here, too, the advantages of the two-tier system come into play. The slide 10 illustrates the point, taking payment transactions as an example.
And finally, I will take a brief look at digital central bank money for the general public, a subject currently generating a lot of debate, and will outline why there is no need for it if the system for cashless retail payments is efficient and innovative. The potential of DLT for the FMI So let me begin with the potential that DLT has to offer for the FMI. The FMI is the bedrock of our financial system, facilitating the reliable transfer of securities and money between buyers and sellers. The slide 2 shows a simplified FMI process chain for the settlement of a securities transaction. Transactions are first made via a trading platform, for instance a security is bought on the Swiss Exchange. This purchase is then cleared and settled. Security and money are simultaneously transferred between buyer and seller. In Switzerland, this takes place via the securities settlement system SECOM and the payment system Swiss Interbank Clearing, or SIC for short. It is entirely possible that distributed ledger technology could take hold in various fields. I would like to look here at two possible areas of application: securities settlement and crossborder payments. Page 3/8  One of DLT’s key characteristics is that it makes verified information available to a large number of parties simultaneously. It is therefore particularly appealing in the case of complex processes where coordination is required across a whole range of participants.