In facing them, we need a visionary industry and creative solutions that will lift our economic potential and improve lives of our people. Such solutions must be built on the strongest foundations the strength of our technical capability, our financial strength and our uncompromising stance towards professional ethics and standards. With these foundations firmly in place, the industry can bridge new horizons and expand beyond traditional borders. BIS central bankers’ speeches  5
There are thus a number of good reasons that explain why we use cash and why we will continue to do so for some time to come. For this reason alone there is a lower limit below which cash usage cannot fall. Where exactly this limit lies and how quickly we may reach it will largely depend on what other payment services are developed. For payments from private individuals to companies there are a number of competing services such as card payments, mobile payments, Internet transfers and so on. However, for payments between private individuals there are far fewer alternatives. Despite the rapid rate of technological development, no satisfactory replacement for cheques has emerged in this context. What is required to make new payment services successful? There are a number of fundamental characteristics of the payment system that affect the chances of successfully launching new substitutes for cash and other existing payment services. Some of these characteristics raise barriers to innovation and may thus help to protect the already established payment services. If we assume that, in one way or another, new payment services will be based on payment by electronic means between accounts in one or several custodial institutions, then there at least three problems that a payment service must overcome in order to succeed. First, launching a new payment system is in itself costly.