Makhlouf puts security and trust at heart of payment innovation
Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf stated on September 18 that public trust and security must underpin payments innovation. Speaking at a conference in Dublin, Makhlouf presented new research showing Irish merchants spend nearly €1 billion annually on payment processing.
Small merchants bear highest transaction fees
Speaking at the Future of Finance Conference in Dublin, Governor Gabriel Makhlouf highlighted findings from new central bank research on the Irish payments ecosystem.
The studies estimate that handling payments costs Irish merchants nearly €1 billion annually, with small businesses facing disproportionately higher per-transaction charges.
While payment habits are shifting—nearly half of young households rely most on mobile wallets and over half use digital banks—one fifth of households continue to use cash most frequently.
Makhlouf noted that consumer preference surveys prioritise protection above all: “When we ask consumers what matters most to them in choosing a payment instrument, the answer is not speed, convenience, or cost.”
Anchoring public money in a digital era
The Central Bank outlined three pillars for payment policy: modernising central bank money infrastructure through the digital euro and distributed ledger technology, enforcing operational resilience across private providers, and enabling responsible innovation.
Three accompanying research papers examine the unbundling of payment services, the emergence of account-to-account tools and stablecoins, and county-level digital adoption across Ireland.
Frictionless is not enough
Makhlouf rightly identifies that convenience means nothing if systemic security fails.
However, the €1 billion merchant burden highlights that existing card rails still extract excessive rents from smaller firms.
Real progress will depend on whether central bank initiatives like the digital euro can deliver genuine fee competition.