Ter Weel: Cash, cards, digital euro for resilient payments
De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) Executive Board Member Bas ter Weel outlined the DNB's Payment Strategy 2026-2028 at a research conference. He emphasized the need for resilient, innovative, and inclusive payment systems, including cash and a future digital euro.
Cash as fallback in a connected world
DNB's Payment Strategy 2026-2028 centers on trust, aiming for a payment system that is resilient, secure, and accessible.
This involves reducing reliance on non-European entities in critical payment infrastructure and fostering European digital payment options across the euro area.
The strategy also promotes public money – both cash and, in the future, a digital euro – to be available, reliable, and affordable everywhere.
Mr. ter Weel highlighted resilience as a key topic, stressing the importance of fallbacks like cash during digital system outages.
He cautioned against scaling down the physical cash infrastructure, advocating for a minimum level until suitable digital alternatives are available.
Recent disruptions underscore that resilience is a practical, tangible necessity.
Surveys show many Dutch citizens keep emergency cash, with advice recommending €70 per adult and €30 per child to cover essentials for up to three days.
Innovation and European autonomy
The strategy also prioritizes innovation, encouraging new technologies while ensuring payments remain secure and accessible.
This includes understanding public trust in new digital solutions.
Research presented at the conference explores user preferences for a digital euro across the euro area, with insights from a discrete choice experiment in Austria.
Furthermore, Mr. ter Weel addressed the European dimension of resilience, noting that over-reliance on a few large global tech firms creates vulnerabilities and can crowd out local solutions.
Strengthening European payment options is therefore a significant component of building a resilient payment system.
The strategy also encourages payment literacy to empower informed choices and cooperation to combat evolving fraud tactics.
Future-proofing payments, human-centric
The speech effectively balances the imperative for technological advancement with the foundational need for trust and inclusion in payment systems.
It underscores that true payment resilience extends beyond technical robustness to encompass strategic European autonomy and robust public understanding.
Ultimately, DNB's strategy aims to navigate a less stable world by ensuring an adaptive, secure, and universally accessible payment landscape for all citizens and companies.