and it ’ s also in the public interest to protect some degree of privacy. 12 universal access would need to be another key feature of a central bank digital currency. that means ensuring that remote and marginalized communities — including but not limited to the underbanked and unbanked — are not left out of this new way to pay for goods and services. as part of our advancing work, the bank has been researching and experimenting with different technologies. in addition, we recently engaged three university project teams to independently develop proposals for what a digital currency ecosystem could look like. their reports will be released tomorrow. this blue - sky thinking will help inform our research going forward. we are also carefully considering what the business model for a canadian central bank digital currency might look like : what role would the private sector play in its development, distribution and transfer? how would this product interface with canada ’ s core payments systems that transfer funds among financial institutions to settle both retail and large - scale payments? j. chiu and t. koeppl, “ payments and the dna of big tech. ” presentation at the future of money and payments : implications for central banking, bank of canada annual economic conf erence, november 5, 2020. r. j. garratt and m. r. c. van oordt, “ privacy as a public good : a case for electronic cash, ” bank of canada staff discussion paper no. 2019 - 24 ( july 2019 ). modernizing our core payments systems long before the pandemic hit, efforts to modernize canada ’ s core payments systems had already begun. this work is important, and with the rapid expansion of the digital economy accelerated by the pandemic, we can now see the benefits more clearly. led by payments canada, several key players in the payments ecosystem — such as interac, commercial banks and other stakeholders — have been working to bring these payments systems fully into the modern digital age. the bank of canada is heavily involved as a central bank, a regulator and, in some cases, a participant. over the next year or so, these improvements will start to come online. this is important for canadians because it will mean greater speed, convenience, competition and choice in how people pay for goods and services. right now, the fastest and most immediate money transfers we see are e - transfers. but the new real - time rail system — which will go live in 2022 — will provide real - time payments beyond what is

promote safe, sound and efficient financial systems. cross - border payments i ’ d like to turn now to the issue of cross - border payments, an area that has an obvious and pressing need for improvement. sending money abroad has always been notoriously slow and expensive for individuals and businesses — so much so that it interferes with lives and livelihoods. issues with cross - border payments affect millions of canadians. this includes new canadians who send money to family in their country of origin. it includes snowbirds who split their time between canada and warmer climates — although not this winter, for the most part. and it includes many canadian businesses that face unnecessary costs and delays in paying for supplies and services from abroad or in receiving payment for the things they sell outside the country. beyond our borders, the issues are even more pressing for developing countries, where many individuals rely on family members abroad to send them money so they can afford basic necessities such as food, clothing and education. many of these needs have become more acute with the uneven global impact of the pandemic. put simply, the problems with sending money across borders create disadvantages that can prevent already impoverished people and countries from fully participating in the global economy. in fact, these issues have been used as an argument for the creation and use of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins. but there is plenty of room to improve crossborder payments without using these novel methods of payment, which would not by themselves fix the problems with cross - border payments. as part of an initiative endorsed by the g20 and coordinated by the financial stability board, the bank of canada and other central banks and regulators have developed a roadmap to solve some of these problems. our main goal is to support faster and cheaper cross - border payments that are more accessible and transparent. as i mentioned at the beginning of my speech today, we have identified numerous pain points in cross - border payments. technological shortcomings certainly pose problems with different messaging standards in different countries. anti - terrorism and anti – money laundering regulations — while crucial for our safety and security — can also slow the transfer of money, with multiple - 8compliance checks. and of course, there are numerous time zones to consider. when you send money from ottawa at noon all the way to cambodia, the local payment system there isn ’ t open at midnight to process the funds. the g20 roadmap is extensive and lays out work that several different organizations will carry out.