yves mersch : " rencontres du club sepa " speech by mr yves mersch, member of the executive board of the european central bank, at the " rencontres du club sepa ", paris, 15 february 2018. * * * with the launch of instant payments in euro in november 2017, the european retail payments market entered a new era. we are moving from a world where it is considered normal to wait a day or more for a payment to arrive to a world where payments are delivered in real time. this is overdue as i consider it anachronistic that services in an e - commerce transaction are delivered in real time and even goods sometimes only take a few hours – while the settlement of payments to release such goods and services would take a full business day. now, payments will be delivered as fast as emails, instant messages and streamed content. i believe that – as was the case in these other industries – end - users, at least the younger and technology - proficient generation, will soon start to expect instant payments. instant has the potential to become the new normal, and we will wonder how we were ever satisfied with payments arriving only on the next business day. in order to support these demands and enhance customer experience, it is not sufficient to have the infrastructures in place to process payments instantly ; payment solutions that are tailored to the specific needs of consumers and businesses are also required. in order to foster a dialogue on such needs, the ecb hosted an event last week at which providers demonstrated the apps they have created to support instant payments and exchanged views about the extent to which they would meet customer needs. this event reinforced my firm belief that instant payments will be the basis for innovative payment solutions, but at the same time, it is only in combination with these solutions that instant payments will live up to their potential to become the new normal. this is why today i call on the industry to take the next step and develop end - user solutions that will allow consumers and businesses to enjoy the benefits of instant electronic payments in any payment situation, in addition to cash, which is still popular. instant payments – a tool for innovation in payments until now, the focus has mainly been on the three basic layers of the instant payments pyramid : the scheme, clearing and settlement layers. great progress has been made in all three of these : at the request of the euro retail payments board ( erpb ), the european payments council launched the sepa instant credit transfer (

ensuring investment opportunities with rewarding returns that are also predictable, while at the same time protecting the savings from inflation erosion. retirement benefits schemes thus thrive well in stable financial systems and where these benefits can be invested for gain and also develop the financial market. retirement benefits schemes benefit from central bank in both scores : stable, predictable low inflation ; stable, well - functioning financial sector. the law mandates the central bank to play two overriding roles. i would therefore like to say a word or two on how the central bank in pursuit of the two overriding goals would be beneficial to the retirement benefits schemes. let me start with inflation. the central bank is committed to pursue effective monetary policy that is consistent with the development agenda of the country and the development of an appropriate financial sector in which you play a role. in particular, the commitment is to a prudent monetary policy that keeps a tight lid on inflation. this should help retirement benefits maintain the value of benefits. this is a commitment which the central bank will sustain and thus make a meaningful contribution to the economy and to retirement benefits schemes. this environment allows you decide where to invest your funds and assures you that whatever payoffs you make to beneficiaries, they are not eroded by inflation and are mediated efficiently by the financial sector. to ensure financial sector stability, the central bank provides prudential guidelines and other regulations to guide the operations of the banks and micro finance institutions to provide proper functioning and orderly exit. the bank is also charged with the responsibility to promote an efficient and effective payment, clearing and settlement system. this facilitates the proper working of the financial sector and stable payments systems. note : effective monetary policy requires an efficient financial sector. this has been identified as a sector to lead the way in the vision 2030. i also anticipate that the financial sector will require to develop innovative products to tap into these savings provided by your schemes. i have observed the development of fund managers in the market in the last 5 years has been tremendous – a positive development. i am therefore looking forward to a good working relationship with the industry as we strive to achieve the nation ’ s overall development goals. thank you.